Lavrov visited Armenia in search of aid over Syria, Middle East – analyst
In an interview with Tert.am, political analyst Hrant Melik-Shahnazaryan addressed Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s recent visit to Armenia, interpreting it in a broader geopolitical perspective encompassing a wider spectrum of regional developments. In his words, the Russian official could not have been limited to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, with his country pursuing interests also in the Middle East region and Syria.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s visit to Armenia received diverse comments in the Armenian and Russian media. The key focus of the discussions was on the Azerbaijan- Nagorno-Karabakh conflict settlement. What impact do you think Lavrov’s visit to Azerbaijan and Armenia will have on the negotiations?
All the opinions in the press are based exclusively on the personal views of their authors, who express them. No statement that followed Lavrov’s meeting with the president and foreign minister of Armenia says anything as to any new any agreement or arrangement achieved in the course of the negotiations. The head of Russia’s foreign office only reiterated the official Moscow’s position on discussing [the conflict settlement process] exclusively within the frameworks of the OSCE Minsk Group. This is the unchangeable approach of not only Russia but also the other countries which are mediators – France and the United States – to which Azerbaijan opposes, deserving their criticism in return. But that does not signal any possibility that Moscow has proposals to the conflicting sides; what’s even worse, it attempts to impose certain things on Armenia and Azerbaijan. I am confident that such hints in the Russian media reflect simply their authors’ fantasy. Moreover, I am sure that the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict was of secondary if not tertiary or a lower significance on Sergey Lavrov’s visit agenda.
So what then was the key goal of the Russian foreign minister’s visit to Yerevan?
The Middle East; more specifically, the developments going on in that region today. As we are aware, the official Moscow has involved itself in the civil war and the fight against terrorist organizations in Syria. Understandably, such a decision by Russia was dictated by the necessity to resolve certain short- and long-term problems. I mean, first of all, the desire to offer aid [Syrian President] Bashar al-Assad, its [Russia’s] key ally in the region, and to save his government, as well as increase Russia’s influence in the Middle East. But such problems are not possible to resolve only by military force, especially airstrikes. What we need here are political decisions whose implementation more than ever requires the international community’s support to Russia. So this is why Lavrov tours different countries in an attempt to receive such an assistance.
Do you think Russia is in need of Armenia’s support?
Armenia is a member state of the CSTO (Collective Security Treaty Organization) and the Eurasian Economic Union. Moreover, it is going to be a presiding [country] in both the former and the latter organizations. It is extremely important for the official Moscow to know that its closest allies feel confident about its steps in the Middle East and support its activities. Without that, Russia cannot possibly receive assistance from other countries. This is very important to understand. Yes, Lavrov came to Armenia with a request for aid, which he made explicitly clear. All the statements by the Russian foreign minister in Yerevan testify to that. He was trying to give the Armenian authorities his assurances that we have a shared interest in the Middle East, which is the Christian nations’ security. But he clearly stated that Moscow needs its allies’ support in international organizations.
What is, after all, Russia’s key goal in Syria and the Middle East?
Increasing assistance is, of course, of utmost geopolitical assistance in the region. To resolve the problem, the official Moscow wishes to create an alliance composed of Russia, Iran, China and Syria as a counterbalance to the Western bloc. So the military operations by the Kremlin are coupled by geopolitical interests in an effort to maximum consolidate the resources in the neighboring regions.
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