Political scientist: France has few opportunities to help Armenia

Political scientist Garik Keryan has said that Armenia's simultaneous participation in the Russian and Western formats of resolving the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict is dangerous.

He made the remarks in an interview with the Armenian media, Caliber.Az reports.

The media recalls that Armenian Security Council Secretary Armen Grigoryan paid a working visit to France and Germany on November 28-29. In France, he held a number of meetings, during which he "noted the dynamics of the development of multi-sectoral Armenian-French relations. The Security Council secretary confirmed Armenia's readiness to contribute to ensuring regional security".

"For about a year, the Armenian authorities have been trying to sit on two chairs. On the one hand, they maintain the Armenia-Russia-Azerbaijan format, and on the other hand, they participate in meetings in Brussels and Washington with undisguised pleasure. This is very similar to the policy of complementarity of the previous authorities when Armenia manoeuvred between the West and Russia," he said.

Keryan believes that while Vardan Oskanian was Armenia's foreign minister (1998-2008), such a policy was understandable in the context of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-chairmanship, it may now be perceived negatively by the Russian leadership. In this context, the political scientist noted that there was no open conflict between the West and Russia during those years.

"France's desire to help Armenia is great, but this country has very few opportunities since it cannot influence [Azerbaijani President Ilham] Aliyev. Therefore, one should not pin hopes on attractive prospects, one should soberly assess the situation and only then take any action," the expert noted.

The political scientist believes that only Russia can help Armenia prevent another war.