Russia and Turkey "took and shared the region" - Alexander  Iskandaryan 

ArmInfo.For the Armenian-Azerbaijani negotiations after the 44- day war to follow a  different course Armenia itself has to become different, Alexandr  Iskandaryan, Director of the Caucasus Institute, told ArmInfo. 

"We must come to realize that Russia is not going to defend us if we  do not do it ourselves, and Azerbaijan will go on dealing with us  just as it has been doing over the last year. And it will go on  acting so until our military personnel - rather than shepherds or  heads of village communities - meet their military personnel.  In  this context I regards the trilateral statement adopted in Sochi on  November 20 as a follow-up to the previous two statements. Yes, it  indicates a need for the parties to observe all the points of the  statements of November 9, 2020, and January 11, 2021," the expert  said.    

In this context, commenting on the Arstakh problem settlement  prospects, Iskandaryan pointed out a tendency to differentiate the  Artsakh problem from the border hazards. It is not at all border  delimitation that is in question now. Rather, it is the negotiations  over creating the conditions for the rather complicated process,  which can normally last for decades.   

In this context, the expert said that Russia`s position is admitting  the impossibility of resolving the Karabakh problem in a situation of  problems in almost all the fields of Armenian-Azerbaijani relations.   Iskandaryan proposes focusing on resolving other, relatively minor  problems. And it is only progress in the bi- or trilateral format  that will enable the sides to revert to the others, especially the  Artsakh problem. And, with few exceptions, the positions of Armenia  and Russia coincide, he said. 

In this context, Iskandaryan regards on more attempt - the Sochi  meeting - to encourage Armenia and Azerbaijan to settle disputes by  means of negotiations as a commendable step. However, he doubts that,  even after starting the negotiations, Baku will stop firing. In  commenting Yerevan`s response, the expert noted that "thinking that  giving up something to the one demanding in the hope that this one  lets you alone," is extremely dangerous. Experience proves quite the  opposite.

"Perhaps, our major problem is our not understanding all that is  going on around us - both in the region and far beyond its borders.  And I could tell you even more: Armenia is unaware of the need to  understand geopolitical processes. And the process under way is the  South Caucasus` declining importance for the world. Numerous  objective parameters are evidence thereof. And this process is not  fully dependent on us.  And the results of the 44-day war showed that  it is time for regional forces rather than for global ones in the  world. All the sides made their statements, and Russia and Turkey  'took and shared the region'. And this is what must be realized and  the point to proceed from in making all the further calculations,"  Iskandaryan said.