Armenia

NDPP wrote:

<p><strong>TNA: How the US is Using the Azeri-Armenian Conflict to 'Extend' Russia</strong></p>

<p>https://youtu.be/s_B7gigTPC8</p>

<p>"Many have noted the suspicious and very convenient timing regarding Azerbaijan-Armenia hostilities which serve as an additional distraction for Russia and its special military operation in Ukraine and its ongoing operations in Syria.'</p>

The timing is not particularly convenient. The US knows how to take advantage of an opportunity whenever it pops up.  Azerbaijan bet that Russia was too stretched to live up to its commitment to Armenia.  They were right. I'm sure the US is alert to every country Russia has any influence over and seeing how they can profit from Russia's ineptitute.

A senior member of the United States Congress visited Armenia and offered the country her full-throated support amid ongoing tensions with Azerbaijan. The visit cheered Armenians, enraged official Baku, and raised questions about the prospect of a broader shift in U.S. policy towards the conflict.Nancy Pelosi, the speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives,...      

... And the authority of Russia, Armenia’s key security guarantor, appears to be waning as it suffers military setbacks in Ukraine.

In this fraught environment, Pelosi’s strong statements in support of Armenia were far less balanced than statements by American officials on the conflict tend to be, and prompted much geopolitical speculation.

In a press conference, Pelosi condemned what she described as “illegal and deadly attacks by Azerbaijan” on Armenia several days earlier. “Make no mistake: this assault is unacceptable,” she said.

She also broached the prospect of greater American security assistance, though she remained noncommittal. “On the defense side, we are listening,” she said. “Rather than coming and saying this is what we are prepared to do, we are listening to what the needs are.” During the trip she added a meeting with Defense Minister Suren Papikyan, which had reportedly not been part of the initial agenda....

During Pelosi’s visit, several pro-U.S., anti-Russia demonstrations were held across Yerevan. Participants waved flags of the U.S., Armenia, and Ukraine, and held signs disparaging the Collective Security Treaty Organization, the mutual defense pact which is supposed to oblige Russia to come to Armenia’s defense in case of external invasion but which has only feebly responded to this latest flare up. 

“The U.S. is getting here faster than Russia, what else does Russia need to do to us so that we finally understand that it is just feeding us to the dogs?” one demonstrator, Hayk Karapetyan, told Eurasianet. Another protester, Anna Sargsyan, added: “I was never pro-anything, this is just being pro-Armenian, we need weapons and support. They are not coming from Russia so they should come from somewhere else.”

But skepticism of U.S. interest in the region remains high among Armenians. “In reality, the U.S. cannot offer anything other than the ill-fated American dream,” analyst Edgar Elbakyan told RIA Novosti. “They can offer security guarantees in words, but these are meaningless.”

The visit occasioned a sharp reaction from Baku. “The statement made by ... Pelosi during her visit to Armenia … which distorts the situation in the region, is deeply regrettable. Groundless and unfair accusations made by N. Pelosi against Azerbaijan are unacceptable,” Azerbaijan’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

It appeared to be referring to her mention of “illegal and deadly attacks,” as the MFA statement reiterated Baku’s claim that Armenia had provoked the escalation (a claim for which it has yet to offer any evidence). It accused Pelosi of falling prey to “Armenian propaganda” and called her visit “a serious blow to efforts to normalize relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan.”