Political analyst: Moscow's determination to protect its interests in wider region once again shows that Karabakh conflict cannot be unfrozen without its knowledge

Russia's determination to protect its interests in the Middle East and Eastern Mediterranean once again shows that the Karabakh conflict cannot be unfrozen without its knowledge, says Sergey Minasyan, Deputy Head of the Caucasus Institute, Doctor of Political Science, talking to ArmInfo. 

"Anyway, Moscow may perceive resumption of large-scale hostilities in Nagorny Karabakh as Turkey's underhand plotting. An evident military support to Armenia will be a good chance for the Kremlin to punish Erdgoan for the downed Russian warplane. In this light, the intensified military and technical cooperation of Armenia and Russia and the $200million deal are not surprising," Minasyan said.

The political analyst hopes the stabilizing military and technical balance of the parties to the Karabakh conflict due to this and other arms deals will help Baku understand the risks of unfreezing the conflict in such volatile times. Minasyan thinks Azerbaijan will hardly strive to resume hostilities now when Russia may openly involve in the conflict on the side of Armenia.

In his words, the Russian-Turkish conflict has created many problems for Azerbaijan, considering that Turkey and Azerbaijan are Turkic states with ethnic and cultural commonness, and Ankara has always been supporting Azerbaijan in the conflict. Meantime, Azerbaijan does not hurry to support its ally in the conflict with Russia. The reason is Moscow's political and economic levers of influence on Baku, Minasyan said. -