ArmInfo. The recent incidents on the border between Armenia and Azerbaijan, in general, are due to the lack of clear and understandable mechanisms for defining borders. Head of the CIS Institute Department of Eurasian Integration and SCO Development Vladimir Evseev expressed a similar opinion to ArmInfo.
"Against this background, I am rather skeptical about the prospects for joint work of Armenian and Azerbaijani specialists on border demarcation and delimitation. It is necessary to understand that any such joint work will be determined by the balance of forces. And if this balance does not appear, then new violations on the Azerbaijani side are not excluded. And the Armenian leadership will have to react to all this. And react quite decisively, "he said.
Against this background, the Russian expert attaches paramount importance not to the process of border demarcation itself, but to the cessation of violation of the borders of Armenia by Azerbaijan. Noting the possibility of defining the configuration of the borders in the future, today, according to Evseev's estimates, Baku clearly expects concessions from Yerevan in this matter. Accordingly, the results of Moscow's mediation in the issue of border demarcation depend on the goals of Baku.
"Thus, Russia's mediation against the background of Azerbaijan's desire to continue annexing Armenian territories seems to be completely unnecessary. It is simply impossible. However, Moscow can assist Baku, for example, in the withdrawal of Armenian armed formations from Nagorno-Karabakh. In this light, it is extremely important to understand what exactly the parties to the conflict expect from Russia, "he stressed.
The absence of the Armenian army on its own border, the factual non-intervention of the Armenian military in the border incident near the Black Lake, Evseev assesses as evidence of the manifestation of the complete helplessness of the Armenian leadership. And the absence of any attempts by the state authorities in Yerevan to solve the problem on their own creates the feeling that the leadership of the republic is looking for someone to solve the border conflict instead of them.
"We have to admit that the Armenian leadership has no political determination to defend its own territory. The absence of statements from Moscow about Baku's aggression against Armenia does not mean anything. Russia indicates real ways out of the situation. But all this should be accompanied by concrete, forceful actions by the Armenian authorities on the spot. Without this, not a single agreement will work. It seems that if Armenia really strived to strengthen its security, then the country's leadership, for example, could offer Moscow to create a second Russian military base in Syunik, "Evseev summed up.