ArmInfo.The West is putting pressure on Armenia to recognize Artsakh as part of Azerbaijan. The goal is the subsequent withdrawal of the Russian servicemen from there and after that, to link the Turkic world encircling Russia through the Armenian Syunik. Political scientist Stepan Danielyan expressed a similar opinion to ArmInfo.
"In general, the West is now faced with the task of opening a second front against the Russian Federation in the South Caucasus. The geopolitical balance established by the Astana agreements between Russia, Iran and Turkey is on the way to this goal. And it is the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict, its development into a large-scale war, that will allow the West destroy this balance by pushing all the countries of the region against each other," he said.
According to the political scientist, neighboring countries, in particular Iran, will not be able to stand aside in the event of a war between Armenia and Azerbaijan. And the same statements from Tehran about the inadmissibility of any territorial changes in the Syunik region of Armenia and on the border with Iran indicate the presence of appropriate external impulses. According to Danielyan, as a result, the situation in the region is extremely dangerous as of today and is fraught with an even larger-scale war than the Ukrainian one already tomorrow. And the leadership of Armenia is already at a crossroads between the prospect of a new war and a serious military-political and economic dependence on the Russian Federation. Very serious external players are interested in the war. In particular, the United States, which does not want to cede hegemony in the world to China or Russia.
"This is where the American strategy aimed at upsetting the balance of power in the South Caucasus originates. Part of which is the talks of Secretary of State Blinken with Pashinyan and Aliyev, visits of high-ranking officials from Iran, the United States and Russia to the Transcaucasian capitals, etc. It is possible to break the balance by using the contradictions between Armenia and Azerbaijan. After that, involve Turkey, Russia and, ultimately, Iran in the war between them. In response to all these challenges and threats the Armenian leadership prefers to play for time, waiting for the end of the war in Ukraine," Danielyan summed up.