ArmInfo. Baku, aggravating the situation on the border, is first of all trying to force Yerevan to sign the so-called peace treaty, of course, on its own terms, which implies Armenia's renunciation of Artsakh and a number of other concessions. Former MP, expert on Azerbaijan issues Tatevik Hayrapetyan expressed a similar opinion to ArmInfo.
On August 1, starting at 9:00am, Azerbaijani units launched a provocation in a number of sections of the northern and northwestern border zone of the Republic of Artsakh, , attempting to cross the line of contact, which were suppressed by the forces of the Defense Army. There are no positional and human losses on the Armenian side, but there is one wounded soldier. "The situation in all directions of the line of contact is stable. Gandzasar is located 100 km from the border. I urge you to follow the official information," said Vitaly Balasanyan, Secretary of the Artsakh Republic Security Council.
"Due to the lack of information, we do not know what is actually being said during the negotiations. However, socio-political discourses as a whole demonstrate the general direction and course of the current negotiations. Baku excludes consideration of any status of Artsakh, in response to which Yerevan makes evasive statements. And the pressure in the form of shots at the border is due to the haste of Azerbaijan. They understand that the election campaign will begin in Turkey very soon and Ankara, to put it mildly, will be busy with its own issues and not with Baku," she stressed. At the same time, the expert emphasized the obvious anti-Russian sentiments and dissatisfaction with Russia that are consistently growing in Azerbaijan. She explains the latter by the presence of Russian peacekeepers in Artsakh and their reluctance to leave from there, repeatedly confirmed, at least at the expert level. According to Hayrapetyan, the latter indicates the need to preserve the Armenian population of Artsakh, while Azerbaijan sleeps and sees the emigration of Artsakh Armenians, which will allow Baku to achieve the withdrawal of Russian peacekeepers. Since the only reason for their stay in Artsakh is to protect the population from the threat of ethnic cleansing from Azerbaijan.
"I am convinced that the propaganda campaign in Azerbaijan against the Russian Federation will only intensify as 2025 approaches, the deadline for the completion of the Russian peacekeeping mission according to the Statement of November 9, 2020. This will also be reflected in Moscow's relations with Baku. Especially against the backdrop of the Ukrainian workload of Russia based on which Moscow will not "stroke Baku the wrong way". But I do not think that Russia will be able to appease Azerbaijan with such curtsy or concessions at the expense of Armenia. The only way to achieve this goal is intensive and coordinated work to improve the level of Armenia's security system. Only this will prevent the opening of a second front against Russia, this time in Artsakh," the expert summed up.