Analyst: Meetings in Yerevan demonstrated that talks on U.S.   withdrawal from South Caucasus are premature

ArmInfo. Of course, there is no point in expecting breakthroughs following the regional visit of U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Erika Olson to the  Transcaucasian countries on November 2-4. However, it is premature to  write Washington off from South Caucasus. A similar opinion was  expressed to ArmInfo by Sergey Markedonov, Leading Researcher at the  Euro- Atlantic Security Center of the MGIMO Institute for  International Studies.

During her visit to Yerevan, Olson met with the U.S. Ambassadors to  Armenia, Georgia and Azerbaijan Lynne Tracy, Kelly Degnan and Lee  Litzenberger, as well as OSCE Minsk Group co-chair from the U.S.   Andrew Schofer and USAID Deputy Assistant Administrator for Europe  and Eurasia Alexander Sokolovsky.

In 2020, the meeting could not be held due to the COVID-19 pandemic.   The two previous meetings, in 2018 and 2019, were held at the  embassies in Tbilisi and Baku, respectively. In Yerevan, the U.S.   Assistant Secretary of State also held talks with Armenian Prime  Minister Nikol Pashinyan, Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan  and Deputy Prime Minister Mher Grigoryan.  "Olson's visit and  meetings in Yerevan, in general, reflect the intentions of the United  States to take an inventory of its interests in the Caucasus. This is  also evidenced by its Yerevan meetings with all key figures of  American policy in the Caucasus. And Olson herself is by no means a  newcomer to Caucasian problems, having experience diplomatic work in  Turkey and Georgia, as well as in other countries of the post-Soviet  space, in particular, in Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan, "he said.

In Markedonov's opinion, thus, the United Statesis debunking the  myths about its own exclusion from the number of active players in  the Caucasus following the 44-day war between Armenia and Azerbaijan  over Artsakh. In this light, the subsequent failure of the American  mission in Afghanistan, he said, also contributed to talks about the  U.S. withdrawal from the South Caucasus.  

Nevertheless, the visit of a high-ranking State Department official  to the region, some other parallel processes with the participation  of the United States, according to the Russian analyst, indicate  Washington's lack of readiness for a final exit from the global game  and various regional processes, in particular those concerning the  Caucasus and neighboring regions.  

"The synchronization of the watches of American diplomats in Yerevan  has become a part of Washington's actions in this direction. It  should be noted that the concern about the strengthening of Russia  and Turkey in Eurasia is the catalyst for the strengthening of  American activity in the Caucasus, and, of course, the possibility of  Iran's activation. Concern for the fate of Georgia, which is a kind  of geopolitical loneliness, is a special case, especially in the  context of this country's internal processes," the analyst concluded.