South Caucasus may simply ‘explode’ soon — Aslan Rubaev

Speaking with Alpha News, political scientist Aslan Rubaev commented on the escalation of relations between Azerbaijan and Russia and what this means for Armenia. According to the expert, an agreement was probably reached during Pashinyan’s visit to Turkey that the so-called “Zangezur corridor” would be opened without Russia’s involvement.

“The rift in relations will only deepen. This is due to the fact that Aliyev has probably already received targeted instructions for such behavior, that is, a carte blanche from London. We see that Baku, having secured the support of Turkey and Great Britain, will push Russia out of the region. Having analyzed the situation a little, it becomes clear that Pashinyan’s recent visit to Turkey and his dialogue with Erdogan probably took place under the agreement that Azerbaijan, Turkey and Armenia will open the ‘Zangezur corridor’ without the participation of Russia and Iran. This marks the emergence of a new axis—Baku, Yerevan, Ankara, London. This, naturally, outraged Moscow, and we tried to send Overchuk to clarify the situation, but Baku did not receive him,” Rubaev emphasized.

According to the expert, the region could see the deployment of NATO forces within the coming year.

“We can see this as a threat to Armenia, which consists of a rupture and deterioration of relations between Baku and Moscow. This is a very serious signal for Armenia, given that today it is led by an anti-Armenian, anti-national government that is doing everything to make the country defenseless against a future threat from Azerbaijan.

It seems to me that in the next few weeks—even the former US Secretary of State is already talking about this—Azerbaijan may invade Armenia and take control of the entire ‘Zangezur corridor’. I think that this is not a baseless statement. I am almost certain that in the next few weeks we will see a sharp aggravation of relations in the South Caucasus, and this region may simply explode, and it will be quite difficult to contain this flame,” Rubaev concluded.