View from Moscow: It is not demarcation that is important, it is  important to stop violating the borders of Armenia

ArmInfo. The recent incidents on the border between Armenia and Azerbaijan, in general, are due to the lack of clear and understandable mechanisms for defining borders.   Head of the CIS Institute Department of Eurasian Integration and SCO  Development Vladimir Evseev expressed a similar opinion to ArmInfo.

"Against this background, I am rather skeptical about the prospects  for joint work of Armenian and Azerbaijani specialists on border  demarcation and delimitation. It is necessary to understand that any  such joint work will be determined by the balance of forces. And if  this balance does not appear, then new violations on the Azerbaijani  side are not excluded. And the Armenian leadership will have to react  to all this. And react quite decisively, "he said.

Against this background, the Russian expert attaches paramount  importance not to the process of border demarcation itself, but to  the cessation of violation of the borders of Armenia by Azerbaijan.  Noting the possibility of defining the configuration of the borders  in the future, today, according to Evseev's estimates, Baku clearly  expects concessions from Yerevan in this matter. Accordingly, the  results of Moscow's mediation in the issue of border demarcation  depend on the goals of Baku.

"Thus, Russia's mediation against the background of Azerbaijan's  desire to continue annexing Armenian territories seems to be  completely unnecessary. It is simply impossible. However, Moscow can  assist Baku, for example, in the withdrawal of Armenian armed  formations from Nagorno-Karabakh. In this light, it is extremely  important to understand what exactly the parties to the conflict  expect from Russia, "he stressed.

The absence of the Armenian army on its own border, the factual  non-intervention of the Armenian military in the border incident near  the Black Lake, Evseev assesses as evidence of the manifestation of  the complete helplessness of the Armenian leadership. And the absence  of any attempts by the state authorities in Yerevan to solve the  problem on their own creates the feeling that the leadership of the  republic is looking for someone to solve the border conflict instead  of them.

"We have to admit that the Armenian leadership has no political  determination to defend its own territory.  The absence of statements  from Moscow about Baku's aggression against Armenia does not mean  anything.  Russia indicates real ways out of the situation. But all  this should be accompanied by concrete, forceful actions by the  Armenian authorities on the spot. Without this, not a single  agreement will work. It seems that if Armenia really strived to  strengthen its security, then the country's leadership, for example,  could offer Moscow to create a second Russian military base in  Syunik, "Evseev summed up.