ArmInfo.Armenia's recognizing or even showing any signs of approving the independence of Donetsk or Luhansk will prove a major blow to the Armenian positions in the Artsakh peace process, Hovsep Khurshudyan, Head of the Free Citizen NGO, told ArmInfo.
"In the context of Armenian Premier Nikol Pashinyan's forthcoming visit to Moscow at Russian President Vladimir Putin's invitation I see such a threat as well. Moreover, that meeting is pregnant with other threats to us as well. The ongoing situation in Ukraine clear demonstrates Putin's unpredictable actions. I think he will pursue a policy of forcing as many state leaders as possible into sharing the responsibility for his own actions," he said.
The prospects of expansion of the Russia-Belarus allied state to the other post-Soviet states poses a threat to their independence. And the Belarusian president's recent statements are not a mere coincidence. Amid the Ukraine developments, Moscow will first of all take steps toward its satellite states. And it is extremely important under the circumstances that Armenia should not be among the states hailing Russia's latest actions.
According to Mr Khurshudyan, the Russian elite's actions cause that state to embark on an extremely dangerous path, which is pregnant with the most negative consequences. In this context, he points out that the USSR, a rather powerful state with serious resources, lost the cold war with the West and disintegrated.
However, starting from his meeting in Munich, Russian President Vladimir Putin changed Russia's status as the West's partner to that of rival. And his latest actions in Ukraine have been proving this status, while he has forgot that Russia is not the USSR and half of the world is not communist. Russia is an isolated state with even some of the post-Soviet states being hostile to it, Mr Khurshudyan said.
"The West has until recently avoided a strong reaction to Russia's revisionism. However, I think the West will respond by measures against the Russian authorities. The collective West will not tolerate it for long, especially amid the discontent in Russia's society. Thus, the West must have made a decision on Putin. And they will spare no effort to put it into practice by undermining Russia's power pyramid to have Putin replaced with a more predictable political figure," he said.