Epress.am News from Armenia
The Russian military base in Armenia, one way or another, will be drawn into the conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia, Russian political analyst and professor of international law Oleg Kuznetsov told Baku-based news agency Vesti.az.
“As they say in such cases in the world of theater, if a gun appears on the stage in the first act then it must be fired in the following act. That is, once a war breaks out, the Russian military in Armenia will be involved in the war for two reasons: First, the Russian military will be forced to protect its military assets from attempts by Armenia to grab it. Second, in the event of a successful offensive by Azerbaijan’s army, the Russian forces will be forced to protect themselves from the Azerbaijanis,” he explained.
In addition, Kuznetsov pointed out that Azerbaijan supported Georgia in military and technical terms in the August 2008 war. “And Moscow remembers this quite well. But, nevertheless, I don’t think Russia will move toward direct military intervention. In any case, nothing threatens the security of the Russian citizens on the military base in Gyumri,” he said.