The army of Russia will retreat from the border between Armenia And Azerbaijan. This was announced by the government itself Fly, on the day of the presentation of the prime minister to the parliament, the Duma. The Russian contingent was sent to intervene between the two countries in 2020 to avoid further tensions over the disputed region of Nagorno Karabakh. At the beginning of 2024, however, Azerbaijan managed to conquer the area.
It was theArmenia to progressively move away from Russia, after the attack suffered by theAzerbaijan. According to the statements of the Russian Foreign Minister himself, the president of the former Soviet republic deems the presence of Moscow’s soldiers within his territory no longer necessary. The country is progressively moving closer to the European Union and the West, while demonstrations against the pro-Russian government continue in Georgia.
Russia withdraws its soldiers from the border between Armenia and Azerbaijan
On May 10, the Russian government announced the withdrawal of its conting the border between Armenia and Azerbaijan and from the Armenian airport of Yerevan, where he had been stationed since 2020. His sending had been requested four years ago by the Armenian government itself with a view to discouraging an attack by Azerbaijan, in particular towards the separatist region of Nagorno Karabakh, a an area with an Armenian ethnic majority located entirely within Azerbaijani borders.
In September 2023, however, Azerbaijan had attacked the Nagorno Karabakh, without the Russian contingent being able to do anything to counter the advance of the Azerbaijani army. The region quickly fell to invading forces and Armenia was effectively forced to surrender, although peace talks are still ongoing to determine the fate of the area and the Armenian populations who make up the majority of it. part of the population.
However, this event significantly distanced Armenia from the Russian orbit. The government of the former Soviet republic criticized Moscow for its inactivity on the front with Azerbaijan, even stating that the presence of Russian soldiers on its territory was no longer necessary. Hardly there Russia it could have intervened anyway given that a large part of its military resources are currently tied up in Ukraine.
Russian troops remained in the region to ensure the passage of populations fleeing from Nagorno Karabakh to Armenia through a gap in Azerbaijani territory. The withdrawal will not be immediate and should take place gradually to allow the Armenian army to take control of the positions occupied by the Russians. The border with Azerbaijan e the airport of the capital Yerevan they are expected to be abandoned by August this year when the withdrawal is completed.
The war in Nagorno Karabakh and the exodus of the Armenian populations
The situation in Nagorno Karabakh is very complex. This is an area whose population is mainly ethnic Armenian and Christian but entirely incorporated within the territory of Azerbaijan, even if just a few kilometers from the border with Armenia. Its particular position and ethnic composition have been the cause of problems since the independence of the Caucasian republics from the Soviet Union. The First Nagorno Karabakh War ended in 1994.
Despite the ceasefire imposed also thanks to the Russian intervention under UN mandate, a political solution has not been found for the region which remains de facto independent from Azerbaijan. The negotiations continue without obtaining results and with growing tension which leads in 2016 to the so-called 4 Day War. Between 2 and 5 April a rapid Azeri offensive with the verbal support of Türkiye. It is Russia that also stops this advance, imposing another ceasefire.
In September 2020 though another Azeri offensive achieves the conquest of a good part of the territory south of Nagorno Karabakh, at the time claimed by the self-proclaimed independent republic of Artsakh, an ally of Armenia. Three years later, a September 2023, another Azeri attack lasting just one day will cause the dissolution of the self-proclaimed republic, effectively bringing the entire region back under Azeri control.
Following the agreements to end hostilities, there was a mass migration of the region’s Armenian population. CAround 100 thousand ethnic Armenians have fled Nagorno Karabakh amid the alarms of the international community over the possibility of ethnic cleansing of the region. This happened despite the fact that the Azerbaijani authorities had assured their willingness to integrate the Armenian populations within the country.
Armenia towards the West: tensions also in Georgia against the pro-Russian government
Armenia’s choice to distance itself from Russia by demanding the withdrawal of its troops from the border with Azerbaijan can be considered as the result of the defeat in the now ten-year war for Nagorno Karabakh. The former Soviet republic has made it clear to Moscow that it is no longer interested in its military aid also due to Putin’s failure to keep the region in the Azerbaijani orbit.
As a result, Armenia is now trying to move closer to the West, to find a new international alliance to join. A move that could also help dampen the conflict with Azerbaijan, which is supported by Türkiye and which has commercial relations with Europe thanks to exports of natural gas and oil, the country’s main resources. The Caucasus region in general seems to want to distance itself from Russia, as confirmed by the ongoing protests in Georgia.
For the second time in less than a year, the Georgian government is trying to pass a “foreign agents” law very similar to the one that banned many Western associations from Russia. The population believes that this is a significant step towards Moscow’s sphere of influence. The country has suffered two Russian invasions in recent times, in Abkhazia and North Ossetia, regions now effectively under military occupation. Despite this, the former Soviet republic is focusing a lot on its rapprochement with the European Union, seen as a way to escape Russian influence and the risk of tighter control of Putin about the country.
The attempt to pass the law on foreign agents caused a reaction from the population who in various cities of the country, but in particular in the capital Tbilisi, demonstrated in the streets demanding once again that the president withdraw the law. During the protests, in addition to the Georgian flags, the demonstrators very often waved those of the European Union and Ukraine.
