Armenia is increasingly turning to the Western world, where the new “ally” has already promised great opportunities and prospects.
Today, it became known about the visit of Armenian President Armen Sargsyan to Washington, and, as the Haqqin news portal reports, the revolutionary head of the government Nikol Pashinyan is also going to visit the “western partners” in the near future.
As experts say, there is nothing to be surprised at. The pro-Western vector in the republic was built long ago. Back in 2005, the largest US embassy was opened in Yerevan, second only to the American diplomatic mission in Berlin.
The embassy’s staff, numbering 2,500 employees, beat all records that for a country with a population of no more than three million people is very much.
However, if one assumes that Armenia has personal independent views on foreign policy, why the modest republic attracted Washington? American analyst Daniel Gaynor expresses his opinion on this issue, assuming that Armenia’s main “resource” is its location.
“Armenia, a landlocked country with a population of three million, is probably located in the most turbulent region in the world,” Gaynor said. – Armenia borders with Turkey, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Iran. As a former Soviet country, Armenia relies on Russia for trade and military support. “
The analyst is sure that this factor became the key in Washington’s interest in this state: “The US has its bets on all the mentioned five countries, and Armenia is in the field of vision as a potentially powerful lever for advancing American goals.”
And first of all, according to experts, the US will do everything to give Nagorno-Karabakh to Azerbaijan. This is necessary in order to weaken Russia’s position in Armenia and to consolidate the NATO military base there.
At the same time, Armenian expert-internationalist Suren Sargsyan admits that Armenia does not benefit from the political crisis in the relations between Washington and Moscow. As a consequence, it is more appropriate for the republic to seek protection from overseas partners.
“Since Armenia is Russia’s strategic ally, which is our main trading partner, American sanctions will certainly have a direct impact on Armenia. We all understand what is happening with the Armenian economy, when prices for oil and gas or the ruble exchange rate fluctuate,” Sargsyan said, noting that “from this point of view, the tension in Russian-American relations can not but affect Armenia negatively”.