Serzh Sargsyan: All Roads Lead to Moscow

Following two high-level regional summits which likely involved Nagorno-Karabakh issue, Armenia’s President Serzh Sargsyan paid a desperate visit to Moscow in a his search for Russian support at a moment when the domestic opposition backed by the all-powerful Armenian Western diaspora puts more pressure on him to go.

In an article titled “The Art of the Possible: Armenia and the New Eurasian Alliance” published by the Katehon think tank, the outlet writes that:

“For Russia, it is imperative to keep Armenia in the Eurasian Union, make Azerbaijan’s membership possible, and engage Turkey all the while. But this is impossible without at least a partial solution to the Karabakh issue. In the long term, Yerevan must also be interested in the involvement of Azerbaijan and Turkey in the Eurasian integration process.”

In addressing the militant ‘opposition’, Katehon analyzes that:

“Conflict with Russia, towards which pro-Western nationalists are dragging the country, the rejection of the Russian peace plan and, accordingly, the loss of Russia’s support for the country could provoke Azerbaijan to solve the Karabakh issue by force” and that “An alliance with the West will not save Armenia, especially given the reluctance of Georgia to quarrel with Azerbaijan and Turkey and the latter’s support for the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan.”

To discuss this in more detail we were joined by Vladimir Sotnikov, Director of the Center for Strategic Studies and analysis “Russia-East-West” (studio guest) and Max Suchkov, Expert at Russian International Affairs Council.