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INTERVIEW: RUSSIA-ARMENIA TALKS HAVE "INVISIBLE" PARTICIPANTS: EXPERT
Global Post
Dec 1 2013
MOSCOW, Dec. 1 (Xinhua) -- Russian President Vladimir Putin's upcoming
visit to Armenia pursues objectives much wider than those within
the bilateral framework, with other countries and blocks invisibly
"participating" in the talks, a local expert has said.
Putin is due to visit Armenian cities of Gyumri and Yerevan on Monday
and Tuesday.
Close relations between Moscow and Yerevan are of great importance
to both sides due to Armenia's geopolitical location, Arkady Dubnov,
an expert in the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) affairs said.
"Armenia is the only CIS country where Russia maintains its military
base since Soviet times, and Yerevan insists that the base remain there
for ever," said Dubnov, pointing out the vital importance of Russian
military presence for the security of the South Caucasian country.
For Russia, the 102nd military base with 5,000 personnel in service
has been the only one which serves as an outpost against NATO's member
Turkey and other potential threats from southern direction, he said.
For Armenia, an alliance with Russia is the only guarantee of its
security in a hostile surrounding involving Azerbaijan and Turkey.
Armenia and Azerbaijan have been locked in a bitter dispute over the
mountainous Nagorno-Karabagh region, which Armenian-backed forces
seized in 1991. The two sides have been holding peace talks mediated
by the OSCE Minsk Group since 1994.
The expert noted that Putin and his Armenian counterpart Serzh Sargsyan
could sign a formal agreement on Armenia's accession to the Russia-led
Customs Union (CU) and, later, to the Eurasian Union expected to be
set up in 2015.
"For Yerevan, participation in the CU is more than just an economic
issue. This is one more step to counterbalance Azeri-Turkish unfriendly
power," Dubnov said, reminding that while Armenia participates in
the Collective Security Treaty Organization along with Russia and
four other CIS countries, Azerbaijan does not.
Armenia's way to the tripartite economic block could be shorter
compared to the other aspirants such as Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan,
Dubnov said, pointing out that Sargsyan expressed Yerevan' s desire
to integrate into the CU as recently as in September.
The fact that Putin agreed to turn a blind eye to the lack of common
border between Russia and Armenia -- which Moscow once cited as a
reason to reject Tajikistan's application -- highlights that the
two countries actually feel some common "geopolitical chemistry,"
the expert said.
Dubnov believes it was not a coincidence that Moscow and Yerevan
announced their plans in September, when Ukraine's preparations for
rapprochement with the European Union were in full swing.
After Kiev made a U-turn, Moscow received one more stimulus to
integrate Armenia in Russia-dominated geopolitical entity, Dubnov said.
"Putin wants to utilize the momentum for confirming Russia as the
'natural' center of gravitation on the Eurasian space, to demonstrate
that the former Soviet republics have no alternative but to gather
under Moscow' s umbrella," the expert noted.
If Armenia will be fast-tracked into the Eurasian economic space,
this will be a clear hint to Kiev to follow Yerevan's example, he said.
With the Armenians mostly support closer ties with Russia and see
it as a brotherly nation, Putin's visit to that country is bound to
succeed, Dubnov said.
Copyright 2013 Xinhua News Agency.
All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast,
rewritten, or redistributed.
http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/xinhua-news-agency/131201/interview-russia-armenia-talks-have-invisible-participants-e
From: Baghdasarian
Global Post
Dec 1 2013
MOSCOW, Dec. 1 (Xinhua) -- Russian President Vladimir Putin's upcoming
visit to Armenia pursues objectives much wider than those within
the bilateral framework, with other countries and blocks invisibly
"participating" in the talks, a local expert has said.
Putin is due to visit Armenian cities of Gyumri and Yerevan on Monday
and Tuesday.
Close relations between Moscow and Yerevan are of great importance
to both sides due to Armenia's geopolitical location, Arkady Dubnov,
an expert in the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) affairs said.
"Armenia is the only CIS country where Russia maintains its military
base since Soviet times, and Yerevan insists that the base remain there
for ever," said Dubnov, pointing out the vital importance of Russian
military presence for the security of the South Caucasian country.
For Russia, the 102nd military base with 5,000 personnel in service
has been the only one which serves as an outpost against NATO's member
Turkey and other potential threats from southern direction, he said.
For Armenia, an alliance with Russia is the only guarantee of its
security in a hostile surrounding involving Azerbaijan and Turkey.
Armenia and Azerbaijan have been locked in a bitter dispute over the
mountainous Nagorno-Karabagh region, which Armenian-backed forces
seized in 1991. The two sides have been holding peace talks mediated
by the OSCE Minsk Group since 1994.
The expert noted that Putin and his Armenian counterpart Serzh Sargsyan
could sign a formal agreement on Armenia's accession to the Russia-led
Customs Union (CU) and, later, to the Eurasian Union expected to be
set up in 2015.
"For Yerevan, participation in the CU is more than just an economic
issue. This is one more step to counterbalance Azeri-Turkish unfriendly
power," Dubnov said, reminding that while Armenia participates in
the Collective Security Treaty Organization along with Russia and
four other CIS countries, Azerbaijan does not.
Armenia's way to the tripartite economic block could be shorter
compared to the other aspirants such as Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan,
Dubnov said, pointing out that Sargsyan expressed Yerevan' s desire
to integrate into the CU as recently as in September.
The fact that Putin agreed to turn a blind eye to the lack of common
border between Russia and Armenia -- which Moscow once cited as a
reason to reject Tajikistan's application -- highlights that the
two countries actually feel some common "geopolitical chemistry,"
the expert said.
Dubnov believes it was not a coincidence that Moscow and Yerevan
announced their plans in September, when Ukraine's preparations for
rapprochement with the European Union were in full swing.
After Kiev made a U-turn, Moscow received one more stimulus to
integrate Armenia in Russia-dominated geopolitical entity, Dubnov said.
"Putin wants to utilize the momentum for confirming Russia as the
'natural' center of gravitation on the Eurasian space, to demonstrate
that the former Soviet republics have no alternative but to gather
under Moscow' s umbrella," the expert noted.
If Armenia will be fast-tracked into the Eurasian economic space,
this will be a clear hint to Kiev to follow Yerevan's example, he said.
With the Armenians mostly support closer ties with Russia and see
it as a brotherly nation, Putin's visit to that country is bound to
succeed, Dubnov said.
Copyright 2013 Xinhua News Agency.
All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast,
rewritten, or redistributed.
http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/xinhua-news-agency/131201/interview-russia-armenia-talks-have-invisible-participants-e
From: Baghdasarian