Radar Armenia's interlocutor is international affairs expert Shahan Gandaharian.
- I would like you to reflect on the Shanghai Cooperation Organization session in China. The key aspect was the meetings and negotiations between the presidents of China and Russia, as well as the agreements that were reached. What did this mean?
- This experience has been used for a long time. Yes, the most characteristic is the bilateral meeting. China aims to maintain its status as an economic powerhouse, while Russia seeks to establish itself as a military and political pole. This is the main difference in approaches. China has a problem of economic interdependence with the West, which it does not want to jeopardize.
- Are we dealing with a transformation of the world order, and what kind of world order is being formed, since there is talk of a bipolar world order?
- Bipolarity is more a media-political formulation than a real one. The US is striving for unipolarity, while other forces that counterbalance each other are working towards a multipolar world order. So far, there isn't another pole of the same size as the US. Other poles may form in the near future. In any case, the bipolar world order is a thing of the past, already in its classical sense. China has enormous potential to maintain its status as an economic powerhouse and to develop it further.
- How would you interpret these realities in the context of Russian-American and American-Chinese relations?
- The Russian-American one is declarative, propaganda-political, rather than real. The US will continue to keep Russia involved in various conflicts. The war in Ukraine will not end abruptly, even if there is an agreement on a ceasefire. Meanwhile, the war with China is economic; a customs war is underway. However, the factor of mutual dependence does not allow the parties to go into a total economic war.
- At the same time, the US President also touched upon these events. In parallel with this, steps are being taken towards the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, and even the leaders of the EU member states met with Zelensky. What does this mean? Where is this process going?
- A turning point has not yet arrived. This process will continue with stops, rather than being mediated, but with direct negotiations taking place one by one. The West will keep Russia involved in this conflict by distributing roles. Ukraine is simply a platform for keeping Russia involved. The general geopolitics of Russia's isolation is underway.
- How will all this affect our region? How will these interests clash or combine here?
- The US presence in the South Caucasus is noticeable. EU countries and relevant structures will also become more active. In all of this, Ankara's activity and the change in the situation are worrying. Ankara continues its relations with Moscow and dictates to Baku to take anti-Russian actions. This means that Ankara has also joined the West's game to neutralize the Russian factor in the South Caucasus.
Arman Galoyan
