Monday, May 31 2021 13:26

ArmInfo.What is happening today in the Syunik and Gegharkunik regions of Armenia can be briefly described as follows: Azerbaijan is trying to impose on Armenia, and  indirectly on Russia, demarcation and delimitation of the border on  the most favorable terms for itself.

Russian expert on the South Caucasus Andrei Areshev expressed a  similar opinion to ArmInfo.  "Such behavior of the Azerbaijani  leadership is quite understandable and natural for the side that  considers itself a winner in the Karabakh conflict. Starting from May  12, the Azerbaijani army has been trying to take control of strategic  routes already on the territory of Armenia itself. And we see that  tension has already shifted from Nagorno-Karabakh to the  Armenian-Azerbaijani border.  Baku is trying to dictate its own  agenda to Yerevan, taking advantage of the absence of a capable  government in the latter, "he stressed.

In this light, Areshev's natural questions are raised by the  passivity of the Armenian authorities in response to such a policy of  the Azerbaijani leadership. And instead of resisting Azerbaijani  pressure and defending its own borders, Prime Minister Pashinyan,  according to the Russian expert, is trying to use Baku's actions to  strengthen anti-Russian sentiments in Armenia. "The Armenian Prime  Minister veiledly accuses Russia of destructive actions in this  situation, of supporting Azerbaijan and almost co-authorship of all  recent events.  And the pro-Western forces affiliated with him say  all in plain terms,'' he stressed.

Commenting on this background, the Armenian Prime Minister's plan to  resolve the current border crisis, Areshev described it as somewhat  strange, expressing doubts about the possibility of its coordination  with the OSCE MG co-chairing countries themselves. The very prospect  of implementing such a plan also raises questions and doubts from the  expert, taking into account the difficulties between its potential  participants.  Primarily between the United States and Russia.

At a meeting of the Security Council on May 27, acting Prime Minister  of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan presented his plan for overcoming the  situation on the border with Azerbaijan. The essence of the plan is  the immediate, parallel withdrawal of the armed forces of both sides  from the border to the places of permanent deployment. International  observers from the Russian Federation or other co-chairing countries  of the OSCE Minsk Group should be deployed along the border.  Pashinyan considers this plan the shortest path to de-escalation of  the border situation.

According to Areshev, proposing to resolve the current situation  through the OSCE Minsk Group, whose prerogative is a political  settlement of the Karabakh conflict and which has nothing to do with  the border between Armenia and Azerbaijan, Pashinyan simultaneously  seeks to shift the responsibility for his own inaction on Moscow. And  all this against the background of a significant decrease in the  influence of the Minsk Group itself in the last six months. The  expert noted that the Armenian prime minister proposes to  symmetrically withdraw the troops from the border. However, given the  fact that the Azerbaijani military is already at the border heights,  as well as in the territories, the status of which is still not  clearly defined, it turns out that his plan actually involves a  unilateral withdrawal of the Armenian military.

"All this fits perfectly into the defeatist policy of Yerevan in  recent months, but, nevertheless, it raises quite reasonable  questions about the motivation of such a policy. In particular, the  reasons for Pashinyan's attempts to blame the situation on the border  on Moscow are not clear, while the Armenian military were given a  clear order not to shoot at the enemy under any circumstances. And  here another question arises - and for what reasons such an order was  given, "the Russian expert summed up.