RUSSIAN EXPERT: THE PECULIARITY OF RUSSIA'S CAUCASIAN POLICY IS THE DIFFERENTIATION OF RELATIONS BETWEEN RECOGNIZED AND NON-RECOGNIZED COUNTRIES OF SOUTH CAUCASUS
by David Stepanyan
Thursday, December 11, 23:57
The peculiarity of Russia's Caucasian policy is the differentiated
approach to establishing relations not only with the known South
Caucasus countries, but also with Nagorno-Karabakh, Abkhazia and South
Ossetia, Grigory Tishchenko, Head of the Center for Euro-Atlantic
and Defense Studies at the Russian Institute for Strategic Studies,
said in his online interview when replying to ArmInfo's question.
"For us it is a big geopolitical discomfort, because one has to split
up the erstwhile single space, which is perceived as "Transcaucasia"
and spend the potentials on forcible reflexive response. The reflexes
are the response to the political, military-political or just "hot"
military irritations, which unfortunately very often exceed the pain
threshold for Russia. Such an approach cannot be considered the best
variant for the security of the South Caucasus countries.
Unfortunately, it is still impossible to create a regional or a wider
security system in the region with Russia's participation", he said.
The expert believes that in the system of Russian interests Armenia
is one of the obvious priorities given the readiness of Yerevan and
Armenia people to participate in development of integration processes
in the post-Soviet area. Tishchenko thinks that this readiness is
especially appreciated given the disruption of integration processes
in the Eurasian area, first of all, due to the final withdrawal of
Ukraine to the West's sphere of influence. "They have also started
to speak about Moldova and Georgia as auxiliary directions. Something
similar seems to be happening around Azerbaijan as well. But Ukraine
is an absolute focus of threats against Russia's security", he said.
The interview was given with the support of the UK Embassy in Armenia
in the framework of the Region Research Center's Topical Dialogues
for Armenian Media project.
http://www.arminfo.am/index.cfm?objectid=57EB8930-8178-11E4-901D0EB7C0D21663
by David Stepanyan
Thursday, December 11, 23:57
The peculiarity of Russia's Caucasian policy is the differentiated
approach to establishing relations not only with the known South
Caucasus countries, but also with Nagorno-Karabakh, Abkhazia and South
Ossetia, Grigory Tishchenko, Head of the Center for Euro-Atlantic
and Defense Studies at the Russian Institute for Strategic Studies,
said in his online interview when replying to ArmInfo's question.
"For us it is a big geopolitical discomfort, because one has to split
up the erstwhile single space, which is perceived as "Transcaucasia"
and spend the potentials on forcible reflexive response. The reflexes
are the response to the political, military-political or just "hot"
military irritations, which unfortunately very often exceed the pain
threshold for Russia. Such an approach cannot be considered the best
variant for the security of the South Caucasus countries.
Unfortunately, it is still impossible to create a regional or a wider
security system in the region with Russia's participation", he said.
The expert believes that in the system of Russian interests Armenia
is one of the obvious priorities given the readiness of Yerevan and
Armenia people to participate in development of integration processes
in the post-Soviet area. Tishchenko thinks that this readiness is
especially appreciated given the disruption of integration processes
in the Eurasian area, first of all, due to the final withdrawal of
Ukraine to the West's sphere of influence. "They have also started
to speak about Moldova and Georgia as auxiliary directions. Something
similar seems to be happening around Azerbaijan as well. But Ukraine
is an absolute focus of threats against Russia's security", he said.
The interview was given with the support of the UK Embassy in Armenia
in the framework of the Region Research Center's Topical Dialogues
for Armenian Media project.
http://www.arminfo.am/index.cfm?objectid=57EB8930-8178-11E4-901D0EB7C0D21663