The main purpose for the US, especially, is to prevent Russia from taking hold over Armenia and continue to try to establish a dominating presence in the region, American journalist, security analyst, and lawyer Irina Tsukerman said in a statement to Report, commenting on the reasons and consequences of the EU-Armenia-US joint conference to be held on April 5 in Brussels.
According to her, some countries in the EU are also siding with Yerevan's rhetoric concerning the possibility of Azerbaijan's attacks: "However, there is no evidence outside Armenia's assertions that Baku ever threatened war.”
Tsukerman also touched on Russian-Armenian relations, stressing that Russia is trying to spin the situation in its favor, claiming that there is a new front in the South Caucasus: “Russia has used Armenia as its own military base since the 19th century. It is futile to dispute that Russia has dominated Armenia economically, politically, and militarily, pushing it into various military disadvantages. Russia's presence in the South Caucasus is self-appointed; it has simply refused to leave since the break of the Soviet Union.”
According to Tsukerman, the EU-Armenia-US joint conference should not have any bearing on peace talks other than to give Armenia confidence in moving forward and protect them from disruption by third parties such as Russia or Iran: “Likewise, the security guarantee could also motivate Armenia to stop propaganda attacks on Azerbaijan. On the other hand, it is possible that some factions inside Armenia will try to abuse its agreement and weaponize it against Azerbaijan in an effort to turn a new security guarantee into pressure against Baku. For that reason, it is important for Azerbaijan to engage in dialogue with the EU and the US and disavow them of false claims by Armenia, and also to find its own path towards strengthening security relationships with these countries.”