Everything unfolding around Armenia and Azerbaijan lately seems like a special operation — Alexey Leonkov

Speaking with Alpha News, military analyst Alexey Leonkov commented on the recent negotiations in Abu Dhabi between Armenia and Azerbaijan and analyzed the attacks of the Armenian authorities on the Armenian Apostolic Church.

“Speaking about Russia’s absence from these negotiations—this is, to put it mildly, an alarming sign. Because it leads to the following conclusion: everything that has happened around Armenia and Azerbaijan lately, I see as a certain special operation. Even the 44-day war also bears this mark, as though it wasn’t launched arbitrarily but aimed at achieving the outcomes now being pursued through a negotiation process that excludes Russia,” the expert said.

According to Leonkov, the operator of the potential road through Syunik will be the United States, and in this way it will control regional communications.

“There is, as they say, a small nuance: the operator of the so-called ‘Zangezur corridor’ will most likely be the United States. Thus, this would create a zone through which not only consumer goods but also other items—including military products—could be freely transported. This would be done to create a kind of bridgehead in the north of Iran and this also influences the North-South railway route, along which a large number of goods should flow. It is clear that in this way the United States will gain influence over this economic project—a tool to regulate or hinder the economic development of the Middle East and Central Asia. And Azerbaijan and Armenia acted according to external interests without consulting their own citizens,” Leonkov added.

The expert believes that Azerbaijan’s aggressive conduct aims to weaken Russia’s influence in the region.