"Russia's military presence in Armenia makes no sense": Pashinyan is looking for a support of the event - wsj

This week, Armenia, which has no access to the sea, has signed an agreement on the purchase of modern air defense systems in France, seeking to fill the key gap in the opportunities that allowed Azerbaijan to defeat the Armenian forces in 2020. The agreement was announced in Paris, when about 3,000 Turkish and Azerbaijani military began joint training near the Armenian border.

"These events, in fact, led us to the decision that we need to diversify our relations [with Russia] in the field of security, and we are trying to do so now," - said the Armenian leader in an interview. Pashinyan added that he sees no benefits in continuing the presence of Russian military bases in Armenia. The difficult situation in which Armenia is, is increasingly worried by the United States and Western allies.

It is believed that this region looks like another potentially explosive point in a long arc of instability passing through Eurasia. Although the conflict was still concentrated in Karabas, a region that was controlled by Armenians but recognized as an international community as part of Azerbaijan, Western officials say that they can now be spread to Armenia itself.

Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev has repeatedly called most of the territory of Armenia, including the capital of Yerevan, historically Azerbaijani lands to be returned. Although Aliyev recently stated that Azerbaijan has no territorial claims to Armenia, officials and state media in Baku continue to call most of Armenia "Western Azerbaijan". In addition, Aliyev canceled future talks in Brussels with Pashinyan on Wednesday.

In the US and Europe, it is not excluded that Azerbaijan, with the support of Turkey and Russia, can try to win the whole Armenia or part of it in the coming months, creating a land connection between Azerbaijan and Turkey. Geography limits the possibilities of Armenia. According to WSJ, the country has only two relatively friendly neighbor - Iran, who is already involved in global confrontation from the United States, and Georgia, whose government is close to Russia and Turkey.

Parallel anxiety is that Russia, state media and officials have launched a sharp campaign against Pashinyan, may be planning a coup to replace the country's leader. In an interview, Pashinyan stated that he still looks at the prospects of peaceful settlement with Azerbaijan in the coming months.

The future of the region, he said, should be to open long -standing borders and trade routes, including land connections between Azerbaijan and Turkey through Armenia, provided that it respects Armenia's sovereignty. "Safety should be achieved not only through the army, but also through regional peace," he said.

Answering questions about the historical relations of the country with Russia, Pashinyan urged instead to focus on the much longer history of Armenia with her Turkic neighbors, Turkey and Azerbaijan. "Here are all the questions, and this is where the answers are answered. First of all, we need to work to improve our regional relations," he said.

Diversification of security relations to which Armenia seeks, he added, should be understood as a desire for a strong regional peace, not just a call to Western military bases and weapons. We will remind, in ISW ​​reacted to the refusal of Armenia from the exercises of the CPB and the SND summit. Yerevan, according to ISW analysts, continues to support a steady policy for a remote course from the Kremlin, and refusal to cooperate shows Russia's weakness.