ARMENIA MUST SPEED UP MILITARY REFORMS TO BE READY FOR POSSIBLY DANGEROUS DEVELOPMENT OF RUSSIAN-AZERI RELATIONS: POLITICAL EXPERT
ArmInfo
2008-07-08 17:43:00
Armenia is still a dominating military force in the South Caucasus
but it must speed up its military reforms not so much because of
the growing military potential of Azerbaijan but mostly to be ready
for possibly dangerous development of Russian-Azeri relations,
says the expert of the Center for Strategic Analysis "Spectrum"
Richard Giragosian.
Armenia relies on Russia much too heavily. Meanwhile, the memorandum
signed during the last visit of Russian President Dmitry Medvedev
to Azerbaijan implies a possible change in Russia’s policy on the
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. Russian-Azeri relations are obviously
improving. But it was the first time that Russia had shown so
clearly that it was changing its traditional, responsible policy on
Nagorno-Karabakh. This policy is good for Baku and must be a signal
for Yerevan and Stepanakert.
Armenia’s key strategic mistake is that it attaches much too high
importance to Russia. Armenia is inclined to overestimate its own
significance for Russia and Russia’s significance for itself. So,
Armenia must adopt a new policy with respect to Russia – a policy
that will make it Russia’s equal ally rather than a country serving
Moscow’s interests.