"Armenia is breaking free of Russia's clutches." Opinion
Armenia between the West and Russia
“The process Armenia’s liberation from the Russian Federation has begun. And it cannot happen without the support of the West,” political analyst Hovsep Khurshudyan maintains, concerning the working trips of two Armenian ministers – one to Russia, the other to the United States.
A delegation led by Minister Suren Papikyan “is leaving for a working visit to the United States,” the Armenian Defense Ministry announced on September 5, about which details are scarce.
On the same day, Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan flew to Moscow. He discussed with his Russian counterpart issues of the Armenian-Azerbaijani and bilateral agenda.
Silence about American visit
Official Yerevan published a message about Minister Suren Papikyan’s visit consisting of just one sentence. It is reported that Papikyan left for the United States on a working visit as part of a delegation. There were no further messages from the Ministry of Defense.
Who is in the delegation is unknown. No word from the Prime Minister on the trip could be found on the e-gov.am website.
A lot information about the Moscow visit
During theMoscow visit, Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan met with his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov. According to the Armenian Foreign Ministry, during the meeting Mirzoyan and Lavrov discussed
- a wide range of issues of regional security and stability,
- issues related to the resolution of Armenian-Azerbaijani relations and the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict,
- the role of the Russian peacekeeping contingent in Nagorno-Karabakh,
- organizing a planned state visit of the President of the Russian Federation to Armenia and session of the CSTO Collective Security Council, which will be held in Yerevan.
The military bloc of the Collective Security Treaty Organization includes Russia, Belarus, Armenia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. After the 2020 Karabakh war and subsequent events on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border that began in May 2021, as well as periodically repeated military escalations, many Armenians are skeptical of Armenia’s membership in this military bloc. It operates under the auspices of Russia, but Moscow does not actually support Armenia, according to critical opinion.
Unlike the official report of the Armenian Foreign Ministry, the message from Moscow contains no information about discussions of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and the activities of Russian peacekeepers.
“Further steps were discussed in the context of unblocking all economic and transport routes, work on the delimitation and demarcation of the Armenian-Azerbaijani border, and the parameters of a peace treaty between Armenia and Azerbaijan,” the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement, without specifying details.
On September 6, the Prime Minister of Armenia also left for Russia on a working visit. Nikol Pashinyan will take part in the plenary session of the seventh Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok. As part of the visit, a meeting between Pashinyan and Putin is also planned.
Comment
Political analyst Hovsep Khurshudyan regards the Armenian Defense Minister’s visit to the United States as “the beginning of the process of gaining independence from Russia”:
“And the independence of Armenia cannot happen without the support of the West, because we are breaking free from the clutches of the Russian Federation.”
According to Khurshudyan, Armenia intends to acquire Western-made weapons. He also says that getting rid of “agents” under Russian influence has already begun in the country’s Armed Forces.
Armenia, between the West and Russia, has been challenged mainly by not eliminating Russian influence in time, the analyst believes:
“It is the Russian imperial influence that is still undermining the foundations of the sovereignty of the Republic of Armenia and is taking away new territory from us every day. We are losing either a village or a military position due to the intervention of Russian troops in Nagorno-Karabakh or anywhere else in Armenia.”
Hovsep Khurshudyan appreciates the invitation for Armenia to take part in the informal EU summit to be held in October in Prague.
According to the analyst, Armenia has a European future, so it needs to “get more comfortable with Western assistance.”
Armenia between the West and Russia
