Thursday, January 17 2019 11:54

ArmInfo. The USA's intention to use Transcaucasia to resolve geopolitical problems with Iran and Russia is becoming more and more obvious. And in this light the  previous year was not an exception, only confirming the growth of  this trend, Russian analyst Sergey Markedonov specializing in the  South Caucasus expressed such an opinion to ArmInfo.

"In this sense, the essence of Washington's Caucasian policy is  pretty well reflected in the statement of adviser to US President  John Bolton during his South Caucasus tour. According to the latter,  the United States considers Georgia as an important element of  containment policy against Russia. It is clear that Washington has  been pursuing such a policy for a long time. However, it is obvious  that the new administration is trying to significantly intensify  these processes, that is why it wanted to test not only Georgia, but  the other two internationally recognized countries of the region",  the analyst said.

Thus, according to his estimates, the internal problems in region  become even more complex because of the global rivalry of external  players transferred to Transcaucasia. And the year 2018, which  demonstrated that no stabilization is going to be reached in the  region, testifies to the aggravation of the observed trends. At the  same time, internal changes in the countries of the region not only  do not solve existing problems, but also introduce additional ones,  significantly complicating an already difficult situation.

According to Markedonov, against this background, Nikol Pashinyan,  finally approved to the post of Prime Minister of Armenia,  cannot  avoid either the resolution of the Karabakh problem or building  complex relations with Russia and the United States. And despite the  fact that with the change of power in Armenia, not a single important  issue for Russia has been subjected to a fundamental review, it is  still difficult for Pashinyan and his supporters to get rid of the  reputation of critics of Yerevan's dependence on Moscow.  Especially  the partners in the CSTO and the EAEU, in his opinion, are concerned  over revolutionary rhetoric, Pashinyan's desire to publicly discuss  the problems that were previously discussed only behind closed doors.   In this light, the analyst sees the need for joint work towards the  development of mutual trust, especially in light of the conflicts  between the Eurasian integration projects of Moscow and the national  interests of Armenia, Belarus and Kazakhstan. According to his  estimates, not the best relations of Yerevan within the framework of  the CSTO and the EAEU require a collective decision in the future  with the condition of active participation of Moscow. Otherwise,  according to analyst, the growth of Eurasian skepticism in Armenia  will not be limited to the dissatisfaction expressed by Sasna Tsrer  members and various bloggers in Internet.