Putin pulls Azerbaijan and Armenia away from the West, while Washington watches

Baku. 13 April. REPORT.AZ/ Washington is not actively involved in resolving the Armenian-Azerbaijani, Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

Report informs, the article of the former US co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group, former US Ambassador to Azerbaijan Matthew Bryza for the Washington Post, says.

In his opinion, this "benign neglect" of the US government enjoys Moscow, which dismisses Azerbaijan and Armenia from the West and strengthen its influence in the region.

Bryza, commenting on the recent violence on the contact line, said that Russian President Vladimir Putin in control with the help of intensive diplomacy, whereas US President Barack Obama does not show any interest in the subject. "The White House did not even bother to publish an official statement, the US State Department and the reaction was limited to low-key", the author notes.

At the same time, the Russian foreign and defense ministers have actively cooperated with colleagues from Yerevan and Baku. As a result of the ceasefire agreement on April 5 it was concluded through the mediation of Moscow, but without the direct participation of the OSCE Minsk Group.

"Thus, the Russian won in two key areas - writes Brayza. First, it restores its reputation on the international scene after the" failure "in Ukraine Secondly, from the leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan under the impression that Moscow alone determines. strategy for the South Caucasus."

In the view, after the armistice, Putin began to force Azerbaijan to join the "counterweight to its EU and NATO" - the Eurasian Economic Union and the Organization of the Collective Security Treaty Organization. Moscow also announced that the Russians will be able to travel to Armenia for Russian passports. Thus, it "actually removed the borders between the two countries." 

"Moreover, Iran, whose previous attempts to integrate into the mediation process on Nagorno-Karabakh rejected, acting jointly with Russia, forming a triangular cooperation with Azerbaijan and filling the strategic vacuum left by the United States," said the author of the paper.

"Thus, Putin pulls Azerbaijan and Armenia away from the West, creating a basis for future crises, while Washington took a waiting position", sums up Matthew Bryza.