WPS Agency, Russia
What the Papers Say (Russia)
October 22, 2008 Wednesday

BETWEEN RUSSIA AND THE WEST;
Armenia in the wake of the August events

by Artem Oparin

President Medvedev visits Armenia; The state of the Armenian economy
has deteriorated to the point where President Serge Sargsian even had
to visit Georgia. President Dmitri Medvedev made an official visit to
Yerevan yesterday, attempting to persuade Armenia that Moscow will
come up with a solution.

Russia’s chief ally in the Caucasus region, Armenia, has found itself
cut off from Russia since the Russian-Georgian war. Meanwhile, some
progress has been observed in Armenia’s relations with Turkey. The
state of the Armenian economy has deteriorated to the point where
President Serge Sargsian even had to visit Georgia. President Dmitri
Medvedev made an official visit to Yerevan yesterday, attempting to
persuade Armenia that Moscow will come up with a solution. A number of
non-binding bilateral cooperation agreements were signed in the course
of Medvedev’s visit.

The war in the Caucasus has left Russian diplomacy facing many
problems. To date, not even Belarus – Russia’s closest ally – has
recognized the independence of South Ossetia and Abkhazia. Armenia’s
position on the issue was best expressed by its president, who made an
official visit to Tbilisi in September. Afterwards, Georgian President
Mikhail Saakashvili declared that Sargsian had expressed support for
Georgia’s territorial integrity. Last weekend, Yerevan was visited by
US State Department official Daniel Fried and Robert Simmons, NATO’s
special envoy for the South Caucasus. Afterwards, Sergsian stated that
Yerevan regards NATO "as a component of our national security" –
despite Armenia’s military alliance with Russia. Moscow has a military
base at Gyumri and a group of border guards; Armenia is a member of
the CIS Collective Security Treaty Organization, which is often
compared to NATO.

Yerevan’s actions have largely been prompted by Russia’s
actions. Essentially, Armenia now has only one ground corridor for
access to the outside world: Iran. But this corridor is not fully
available, since a number of leading Western nations are attempting to
isolate Iran itself. And Armenia’s other neighbors are Georgia,
Turkey, and Azerbaijan.

Alexei Makarkin, deputy general director of the Political Techniques
Center: "No matter how much it wants to, Russia cannot build a
pipeline directly to Armenia or offer an alternative option for energy
deliveries. This is politics, and Serge Sargsian has to seek ways of
solving his country’s problems in the current circumstances."

RISI analyst Azhdar Kurtov says that Armenia is interested in
unblocking the current situation – not only for Nagorno-Karabakh, but
also with regard to Armenia’s geographical isolation: "But Russia
still isn’t providing answers to all of Armenia’s questions, so I
think the geopolitical game will continue: Armenia will attempt to
obtain advantages from both Russia and the West simultaneously."

Source: RBC Daily, No. 200, October 22, 2008, p. 3

Translated by InterContact