ArmInfo. Russia is interested in the entire South Caucasus, including Georgia. Gela Vasadze, Senior fellow at the Georgian Strategic Analysis Center (GSAC), expressed this opinion to ArmInfo.
"In this light, the prospect of unblocking communications in the sections of Armenia and Azerbaijan at this stage without Georgia's participation in this does not interest Moscow at all. Moscow is interested in control over the entire South Caucasus. In the conditions of "closed" Georgia, the closed Abkhaz section of the railway, its communication projects will remain only on paper, and will not be of interest even to Russia itself, " the analyst is convinced.
According to Vasadze, today there are two projects concerning the future of the region: Russian and Turkish. However, at this stage, only the Russian project is being implemented, and Moscow is taking active steps towards Georgia to strengthen and expand its control over the South Caucasus.
Noting the emergence of certain difficulties between Tbilisi and Brussels following the recent visit of European Council President Charles Michel to Tbilisi, Vasadze stressed the extreme unlikely scenario of Georgia returning to the orbit of Russian influence. According to him, there are many obstacles on the Russian path in Georgia today. However, Moscow is initiating certain processes in Georgia, despite the fact that Georgia is still assisted by the United States.
Returning to the Turkish project, Vasadze stressed that following the 44-day war, Turkey has significantly intensified the implementation of its Great Turan program in the South Caucasian segment. Which, Moscow is trying to prevent, for obvious reasons, including by its own recent actions in the South Caucasus.
According to the analyst, France also has similar interests with Russia in the issue of preventing and limiting Turkish expansionism in the Caucasus. According to Vasadze, in the event of a choice between Russia and Turkey in the issue of control over the South Caucasus, Paris will definitely choose Moscow. At the same time, in his opinion, France is definitely playing an independent game in the region and is actively trying to return to the number of world superpowers, however, it is not going to establish its own military presence in the South Caucasus.
"It is clear that the South Caucasian cooperation between France and Russia has a situational character. Nevertheless, in my opinion, it is quite possible to expect a certain degree of synchronization between their actions. There will be no clash between France and Russia, simply because it is not in the interests of the French leadership. In this light, I expect from Paris exclusively political assistance to Yerevan. Which in itself is not bad. In any case, France is an emergency exit for Armenia. And the Armenian leadership, in my opinion, needs to catch on to all the latest proposals of the French Ambassador to Yerevan and as far as possible to deepen and develop relations with Paris," Vasadze summed up.