Friday, June 10 2022 13:08

ArmInfo. Despite radically different geopolitical approaches, Russia and the West are obviously ready to compromise on a need for unblocking transport links in the  South Caucasus, expert in Azerbaijani studies Tatevik Hayrapetyan  said in an interview with ArmInfo. 

"In this context, the discussions on these processes following the  'corridor' logic during Russian FM Sergey Lavrov's visit to Armenia  could well be part of the visit agenda. Questionable are the mentions  of 'simplified communications' between Armenia and Azerbaijan, with  both the negotiators mentioning the unacceptability of the  corridor-extraterritorial logic in the ongoing processes. And theses  questions have not so far been answered," she said. 

The Russian FM arrived in Armenia on June 8. The following day,  Sergey Lavrov held meetings with his Armenian counterpart Ararat  Mirzoyan, Armenia's Premier Nikol Pashinyan, President Vahagn  Khachaturyan. On June 10, the Russian FM is participating in a  meeting of the CSTO Foreign Ministers' Council in Yerevan. 

Amid the Ukraine developments, the Russian FM's visit is aimed at  enabling Moscow to have its finger on the pulse of the  South-Caucasus, as it is perfectly aware of the West's interest in  the region in general an in Armenia in particular. So Moscow is  seeking to oppose the U.S. and EU plans to reduce its, Moscow's, role  in the regional processes and replace it. 

"And the feature of Lavrov's statements in Yerevan was his statement  on the solution to the problem of the Armenian village of Parukh as  part of the border delimitation and demarcation process between  Armenia and Azerbaijan. And this statement is in conflict with his  own statement on a need to differentiate between the solution to the  Atrsakh problem and delimitation and demarcation of the  Armenian-Azerbaijani border.  It should be noted that Baku views  Lavrov's statement on Parukh as an anti-Azerbaijani one. And the  Azerbaijani foreign office has issued a statement, mentioning the  Russian peacekeepers' presence in Artsakh as 'temporary presence in  Azerbaijan'," Ms Hayrapetyan said.