Russian Political Analyst Alexei Mukhin: "In Response To The Armamen

RUSSIAN POLITICAL ANALYST ALEXEI MUKHIN: “IN RESPONSE TO THE ARMAMENT OF AZERBAIJAN, RUSSIA IS ARMING ARMENIA”

APA
Feb 21 2013
Azerbaijan

“Serzh Sargsyan’s re-election will bring nothing new to the settlement
of the Nagorno Karabakh”

Moscow. Farid Akberov – APA. “In response to the armament of
Azerbaijan, Russia is arming Armenia,” said director general of the
Political Information Center of Russia, political analyst Alexei
Mukhin in his interview with APA’s Moscow correspondent.

According to him, Russia is providing Armenia with weapons to
maintain armament balance in the region: “This step is a response to
Azerbaijan’s armament. Russia is trying to achieve armament balance
in the South Caucasus. Azerbaijan is providing its army with modern
weapons. Russia and Armenia are represented in Collective Security
Treaty Organization (CSTO). Armenia is being armed within the
cooperation in this organization. If Armenia were not a member of
CSTO, Russia would hardly take this step, because Russia knows very
well the adverse effect of arming one of the conflicting parties.

Therefore, arming Armenia doesn’t cast doubt upon Russia’s mediation
in the settlement of the Nagorno Karabakh.”

There is no political guarantee that Russia will support Armenia if
the war starts in Nagorno Karabakh. If the war starts in Nagorno
Karabakh, Russia will pass decisions taking into account current
situation. Russia’s military base in Armenia is under the control of
the Russian government. If the war starts in Nagorno Karabakh, the
forces in Gyumri will act under the order of Russia, not of Armenia.

Mukhin has also commented on the current Russia-Azerbaijan relations.

He said that the relations between the two countries are neither
warm nor cold: “Both Azerbaijan and Russia are acting within their
interests. In this stage, the two countries’ interests do not
coincide. But it doesn’t mean that the relations between the two
countries will become tense in the future and cause a conflict.”

Asked if something new can be expected in the resolution of
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict during Serzh Sargsyan’s second term, Mukhin
said: “Unfortunately, Serzh Sargsyan’s re-election will bring nothing
new to the settlement of the Nagorno Karabakh. The negotiations
towards the settlement of the conflict will more likely remain
unchanged. It would be naive to expect any changes in the settlement
of the conflict in the near future, because the positions of the two
countries in the process of negotiations are quite different. The
countries mediating in the settlement of the conflict – the US, Russia
and France are satisfied with the current state. Unfortunately, the
mediating countries are not interested in solving the conflict with
current terms, because they understand well that the settlement of the
conflict is possible through war. War favors none of these countries.”

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress