Expert:  Moscow`s interest in maintaining its presence in Artsakh and  the South Caucasus is the latter`s response to Baku`s attempts at  creeping aggression and expansion

ArmInfo. Describing its own advance in the direction of the village of Parukh as a "clarification of positions", Baku simultaneously demands the withdrawal of all  Armenian military presence from Artsakh.

The latter shows Azerbaijan's desire to carry out ethnic cleansing in Artsakh,  expelling the indigenous population from there. Former Armenian  Parliament member, Expert in Azerbaijani studies Tatevik Hayrapetyan  expressed such an opinion to ArmInfo.

"Dearmenization of Artsakh is a long-standing goal of Azerbaijan,  which it has been trying to achieve since the 90s of the last  century. Today, this goal is accompanied by the understanding that if  Artsakh is left without an Armenian population, then Russian  peacekeepers will simply have nothing to do there. In this way, Baku  really hopes to close the Artsakh issue for itself. It is for this  purpose that the blocking of the gas pipeline in Artsakh, the  creation of socio-economic problems for the people of Artsakh,  military provocations, manifestations of aggression are determined.  All this is aimed at ensuring that our compatriots cannot feel safe  even in the presence of Russian peacekeepers," she stressed.

The expert also expressed confidence in the influence of the  Ukrainian situation on what is happening in March in Artsakh. In this  light, Hayrapetyan is convinced that if Moscow is really interested  in maintaining its own presence not only in Artsakh, but in the  entire South Caucasus, it should immediately respond to Baku's  attempts at creeping aggression and expansion. If not a military  response, then at least create opportunities for the NKR Defense Army  to ensure the security of the people of Artsakh. Accompanying these  actions by voicing clear political assessments of Baku's actions.

According to Hayrapetyan, the current negotiations with the  participation of Russian peacekeepers to resolve the situation in  Artsakh do not produce results due to the lack of clear, targeted  assessments of the situation by Moscow. The latter, in turn, the  expert connects with the situation in Ukraine and around Ukraine, in  particular, with the Turkish factor, Ankara's mediation efforts in  the negotiations between Moscow and Kiev. In other words, the  passivity of the Russian Federation in the Artsakh direction, among  other things, is due to the unwillingness to create additional  tension in relations with Turkey.

"Thus, regardless of our fully justified and well-reasoned  expectations from Russian peacekeepers, first of all, we must rely on  ourselves to protect our own interests and ensure our own security.  Especially considering that all recent actions of Baku are logically  directed, including against Russia. And I do not see at all how  Moscow benefits from the "Parukh deal" with Baku, in which many  accuse it. In fact, Russia only loses from all this, the  effectiveness of its peacekeeping mission is called into question, as  a result, the ability to resolve issues in the Caucasus, not to  mention the emerging anti-Russian sentiments in the Armenian society,  even in its Artsakh part," the expert summed up.