ARMENIA FEARS CHANGE IN RUSSIAN POLICY: NEZAVISIMAYA GAZETA
Tert.am
12:15 ~U 13.01.10
Russia’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Sergey Lavrov, is in Yerevan
today for a two-day official visit. According to Russian daily
Nezavisimaya Gazeta, there are concerns in Yerevan that Russia’s
specific economic interests will push "strategic cooperation" into
Plan B.
The publication recalls that a similar situation was created last
year: Erdogan in Moscow, and Lavrov in Yerevan. It was during that
time that the Russian Foreign Minister implied that it was time for
Yerevan to think about the future and to find a common language with
its neighbours. Today, Moscow’s interests are evident: to expand its
influence in the region, as well as to establish closer cooperation
with Turkey and Azerbaijan, who, in turn, hope and presume that
Moscow has the power and might to convince its strategic partner to
make concessions in the issue of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.
Ankara, in turn, is prepared to guarantee its support for all Russian
pipeline projects in the region, while Baku, with Ilham Aliyev
at the forefront, is of the opinion that "the idea of reinstating
his country’s territorial entirety is more important than all the
hydrocarbonic reserves."