Friday, January 26 2018 16:29

ArmInfo.In 2018, Russia will continue the course aimed at equipping the Eurasian space. The head of the Council for Foreign and Defense Policy of Russia, director for  scientific work of the Valdai Club, Fyodor Lukyanov, expressed his opinion to ArmInfo.

"In this sense, we do not expect any sharp changes in Moscow's  foreign policy: strengthening Eurasian integration, leveling the  existing contradictions in the EAEU, especially preventing further  integration, will become a clear priority of Russian foreign policy  after and in the case of Vladimir Putin's re-election in March", said  the analyst .  Lukyanov also predicts Russia's further implementation  of mediation commitments within the framework of the OSCE Minsk Group  on the settlement of the Karabakh conflict in the absence of radical  changes.  Noting the presence in Armenia of a lot of claims to the  issue of military cooperation between Moscow and Baku, the analyst  conditioned this process with difficulties dictating the rules of the  game, regional geopolitics.

Nevertheless, Lukyanov is convinced that there is no influence of  geopolitical perturbations on the fulfillment of Moscow's obligations  under the treaties to ensure Armenia's security. Failure to fulfill  obligations to Yerevan, according to his forecasts, devalues the  international role and functions of Moscow, not only in relations  with Yerevan.

The OSCE Minsk Group has been dealing with the settlement of the  Karabakh conflict since 1992, represented by the co-chairs from  Russia, the United States and France. Currently, the settlement  process is based on the Madrid Principles put forward by the OSCE  Minsk Group Co-Chairs in 2007 and updated in 2009, including, among  other things, the deployment of a peacekeeping contingent in the  conflict zone.