As our colleague Faustine Vincent explains in this article, Armenia, a former Soviet republic of 2.7 million inhabitants, finds itself caught between Russia, which is threatening it with reprisals, and Azerbaijan, moreover more offensive on the field. This small country in the Caucasus is still extremely dependent on Moscow, both in terms of security and economics. The two states are linked in particular by defense agreements within the framework of the Collective Security Treaty Organization, even if its ineffectiveness is today highly criticized by the Armenians.
Attacks occur regularly on the border between the two countries despite the ceasefire, signed on November 9, 2020, under the aegis of Moscow, to end the war in Nagorno-Karabakh. Pressed since February by the International Court of Justice to put an end to the blockage, Baku rejects the accusations and hardens its speech. Ignoring the Armenian request, supported by France, to guarantee the rights and security of the inhabitants of Nagorno-Karabakh, the regime today only evokes their “reintegration” in Azerbaijan, and goes so far as to refer to Armenia as the“Western Azerbaijan”, sowing nervousness even in diplomatic circles. The Armenian authorities fear a new military escalation and a “ethnic cleansing” in Nagorno-Karabakh.
Faced with these threats, the Armenians can only count on the ground on the approximately 2,000 Russian peacekeepers deployed in the separatist enclave since the end of the war. However, according to Yerevan, this interposition force is showing great passivity.
To find out more, you can read the decryption of our journalist Faustine Vincent:
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