Radar Armenia spoke with political scientist Edward Antinyan about the situation in the region and around Armenia.

- The EU decided to send observers to the Armenian-Azerbaijani border. The members of the EU technical assessment mission are already in Armenia. Despite this, Azerbaijan has been violating the ceasefire regime in recent days. What does this behavior of Azerbaijan mean?

-Azerbaijan is in no way reconciled to the idea that Russia's role in this conflict will decrease because it had an agreement with the Russian Federation that referred to connecting Azerbaijan with Turkey through the Zangezur Corridor; if it is implemented, it will not be under the jurisdiction of Armenia. And that pressure and recent attacks on the territory of Armenia itself were provided by Russia. And now it is a surprise for Azerbaijan that the United States reacted harshly that it is necessary to respect the territorial integrity of Armenia, the ceasefire demands, and said that the troops should be withdrawn. The EU responded in the same way. And in this case, the fact of EU observers is quite severe for us, and it is undesirable for Azerbaijan and Russia because Azerbaijan wants to create instability again to show that neither the EU nor the USA can solve an important issue in our region. they can't.

- Statements were made, but the Azerbaijani troops did not leave the sovereign territory of the Republic of Armenia.

- The Azerbaijani troops did not leave our territory to show that they are not particularly afraid of either the US reaction or the EU. Its whole purpose is to show that the role of the West in this issue is overestimated. But, it doesn't matter if they don't withdraw the troops at this moment; they will be obliged to do so because the West, in particular, the USA, already does not like Azerbaijan's stubbornness, which accuses Russia of the same things: aggression, entering the territory of the neighbor. And to forcefully redraw internationally recognized borders. We must take consistent steps to draw a parallel between the fact that Russia is the aggressor in the case of Ukraine and Azerbaijan is the aggressor in our case. And what attitude the West has towards Ukraine, it should have the same attitude towards us.

- Yesterday, the RA Foreign Minister announced that the issue of deploying OSCE observers on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border is being discussed, this topic is also being concerned with the CSTO, and there is already a preliminary decision. In your opinion, what effect can their presence have?

- Even if Azerbaijan questions the OSCE format, justifying that France and the USA are in an open conflict with the Russian Federation, all the same, according to Armenia's insistence, that format has become critical. And if Azerbaijan tried to show how they would work with each other in case of that conflict, a compromise option is the meeting through the mediation of the French president, the head of the co-chairing state. Apart from that, Azerbaijan tried to cast doubt on the fact that France is making such statements for the sake of Armenia and cannot assume the role of a mediator. The involvement of OSCE observers shows that the issue of Artsakh should be considered from the point of view that the problems of territorial integrity and status have not been resolved, and it is unacceptable to resolve the permanently unresolved conflict from the position of force.

- Will the presence of these observation missions not interfere with each other, considering the confrontation between the West and the Russian Federation?

- There are no disturbing circumstances because diametrically different things will be fixed; we will see that too. Armenia will formulate its geopolitical alternative today. If Armenia is dissatisfied with the attitude of the Russian Federation, it will appeal to the international structures of which we are a member. Armenia is a sovereign state; it decides the issue of foreign political diversification by itself. Let Russia reconsider its attitude, realizing that it can lose its role.

- Do you see a possibility of signing a peace agreement with Azerbaijan by the end of the year, and can that agreement be a guarantee of peace?

- Even the initial agreement that they will manage to delimit physically by the end of the year is also due to the Russian-Ukrainian war. Because the impact of the Russian-Ukrainian war is too significant in the region and against the backdrop of geopolitical realities, this is also how Azerbaijan measures whether it respects the agreement. It thinks that it is possible to get more in this situation. Since 1994, Azerbaijan has not agreed to any proposal, assuming it can get more than what is stipulated in the document.

- Does the concept of peace depend on the outcome of the Russian-Ukrainian war?

-Definitely. Now we see that the UN cannot act as a guarantor of the security of a sovereign state. The UN can no longer work in the new situation. After the war in Ukraine, there will be a new world order, a new or renewed UN. If we have a peace treaty, who will guarantee that Azerbaijan, with that treaty in hand, will not violate the border?

Hayk Magoyan