Losing western interest not to Armenia’s advantage - pundit

Losing the western interest would not offer any advantage to Armenia’s against the developing Russian-Azerbaijani relations, according Richard Giragosian, the director of the Yerevan-based Regional Studies Center (RSC).

“Armenia is a small country in the strategy of complimentary values. So if we lose the Western interest,  the US interest, there is nothing to stop Russia from doing what it is doing now: improving the relations with Azerbaijan, selling more arms to Azerbaijan and taking Armenia dangerously for granted,” he told Tert.am, commenting on the possible outcome of the US presidential election.

The expert said he doesn’t think that Armenia is a winner of war in the context of the competition or confrontation between Russia and the US. “It’s not that the two actors on the stage are repairing relations. But the US is giving the stage to Russia and walking out of fear,” he explained.

A major advantage for Armenia, Giragosian said, is the US-Armenian lobby. “Its power and posture is ruling in the Congress now, not the executive branch. So they will be able to balance or at least keep in check any move by Trump over the war in Karabakh, Armenia-Turkey [relations],” he said, not ruling out the possibility that Donald Trump may even move to recognize the Genocide in an April 24 commemoration address.

Meantime, the expert admitted that such a scenario is not necessarily good for Armenia. “That’s not a reassurance of a commitment or a policy,” he said, warning against being too much focused on Trump.

“I don’t know what the Armenian experts say, but the Armenian government  - I am confident they are deeply in strategy obsessions = analyzing what is going on, and what are the opportunities and challenges,” he added.