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Abbas Ganbay

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The growing tensions in both Yerevan and separatists concentrated areas in Garabagh continues, with Armenia damaging relations with its ally Russia and opening its doors to patrons such as America, Canada and France. The Armenian side's military provocations and pulling of armed forces to the borders of Azerbaijan strictly violate the signed agreements and aggravate the conflict, as well as the provision of goods and food from Azerbaijan and Russia to the Armenian minority living in Garabagh.

A week of propaganda from Armenians has caused them to worsen relations with Russia, as well as with their neighbours, and on September 9, in the unrecognised state of Azerbaijan's Garabagh, illegal presidential elections were held. Although the so-called president was elected and was blessed by the Armenian PM, he is still not recognised in Yerevan.

Thus, Armenia continues its dangerous political course without considering either Russia or Azerbaijan, whose territory it has illegally declared a so-called state. Moreover, on September 2, Pashinyan addressed a congratulatory letter on the occasion of the anniversary of the establishment of the so-called regime in Garabagh.
And now, he congratulated the new "leader" of the so-called regime, who was "elected" by the so-called "election". Pashinyan thereby shows his extremely hypocritical face. It also shows that it lacks any political principles and serves only ulterior purposes.

The situation has reached such a level that even the Armenian PM's parliament addressed Russia that once it took refuge, with serious expressions.

Earlier, during a meeting with representatives of Russian media, the head of the Armenian parliament Alen Simonyan, answering a question from a Komsomolskaya Pravda journalist, referred to a certain "Lavrov's plan" and that "Russia surrendered Garabagh". The Russian Foreign Ministry stated that "Lavrov's plan" exists not in reality, but in the imagination of Armenians.

This was reported to journalists at the Russian Foreign Ministry on Friday, commenting on the recent interview of the Speaker of the Armenian National Assembly Alen Simonyan to the Russian media.

According to Russian expert Mikhail Zernov, who gave a comment to AZERNEWS, Armenia is pursuing a consistent anti-Russian policy, bringing its positions closer to the collective West, which has recently turned its eyes towards the losing side, i.e. Armenia.

"In sorting out who is a friend to us and who is an enemy, we can draw conclusions on one, simple thing - the linguistic aspect. In Armenia, the Russian language is out of the state policy, there are no Russian schools, universities. In Azerbaijan, headed by President Ilham Aliyev, a graduate of MGIMO, hundreds of thousands of children and teenagers study in Russian in schools and higher educational institutions." M.Zernov said.

It is no secret that Armenians enjoy the popularity of discrimination and elevating themselves above others. In addition to hatred towards neighbors, it is inherent in the refusal of Armenians to receive food from the Red Crescent and Red Cross organizations of Azerbaijan and Russia for the Armenian minority in Garabagh, through the Aghdam-Khankendi road.

According to independent expert Alexey Khlopotov, Armenia, as well as Pashinyan's number one task, is to bargain more favorable conditions for a peaceful settlement.

"It is clear that Pashinyan as well as Armenia are extremely dissatisfied with the proposals made by Azerbaijan, they do not suit them much, and accordingly Yerevan wants to soften them as much as possible," the expert said.

Khlopotov added that Armenia used to hide behind Russia's back earlier than now, and recalling the provocations that Yerevan staged on the border before the start of the war in 2020, he emphasized that Azerbaijan could have solved the Garabagh issue as it was in 2020, back in 2016.

The expert added that by turning to the West, currently, Armenia is also causing serious threats to the region.

"Armenia, adding fuel to the fire, has decided to jointly organize military exercises with the US, and they will take place on Armenian territory. Yerevan refuses to hold joint exercises with the CSTO for the second year, and according to the Russian Foreign Minister, this is explained by Armenia's personal gain, and that if the CSTO as an allied entity with Armenia's participation condemned Azerbaijan, then they would "work" there, but when it comes to the American and European organizations that do not condemn Azerbaijan, Armenia, tucking its tail takes the condemnation of Azerbaijan on itself, justifying that "they" are not their allies, referring to the American and European organizations. So this another hypocrisy of Armenian policy with countries it cooperates," the expert added.

Alexei Khlopotov, who clarified Armenia's attitude towards Russia, said that on the other hand, the constant attacks on the Russian Federation and the Russian Foreign Ministry are Yerevan's flirtations as a curtsy to the West.

"Yerevan, of course, will not completely break off relations with Russia, it is simply not economically profitable for it now, as most of Armenia's budget is filled through transfer operations to circumvent sanctions with Russia, that is, the commodity turnover has increased multiples, simply multiples, it is huge money, and it is not profitable for Armenia itself to lose it.

Of course, for Russia, this channel of circumventing sanctions through Armenia is also very important, and in principle not to such an extent as filling the budget of Yerevan. Therefore, Pashinyan, roughly speaking, is trying to sit on two chairs. That is, on the one hand, "we" (Armenia) are trying to put pressure on Russia, to somehow provoke it, to tease it with flirting with the West, and on the other hand to tear up relations "We do not want and will not".

Abbas Ganbay is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @Noend33

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