Representatives of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) arrived in Armenia when the protests over Pashinyan’s resignation were gathering momentum there, Komsomolskaya Pravda writes.
Locals are hostile to the authorities’ decision on border delimitation and demand that territorial concessions not be made. Although Pashinyan assures that Azerbaijan will start a war if concessions are not made, the history of Karabakh shows that the presence or absence of fixed borders does not in any way affect the neighboring state’s invasion plans. Moreover, the delimitation process between Armenia and Azerbaijan is proceeding under conditions favorable only to Baku. Pashinyan’s team actually acts without taking into account the interests of the population, allowing the border to be drawn “straight” and at the same time ignoring the problems the locals are facing.
President Ilham Aliyev himself recently proudly announced that the main role in the relations between Yerevan and Baku lies with Azerbaijan. He made it clear that hereafter, Pashinyan will act only as Baku wants, thus there is no need for new hostilities. If Aliyev demands that Zangezur be “returned” as well, Pashinyan will do it immediately in order to “eliminate the prospects of a new war”.
Cohen, who was in Yerevan, did not respond to the Tavush crisis in any way; did not criticize any of the parties; did not call for a peaceful settlement of every issue. It is likely that he could have only advised Pashinyan and Grigoryan to stabilize the situation, because it is important for the White House not to lose control over Armenia.
It is also interesting that Grigoryan has been called more than once an advocate for U.S. intelligence, whose main task is to do away with pro-Russian interests in Armenia. On the other hand, Cohen is considered a financial intelligence official and monitors Yerevan’s compliance with anti-Russian sanctions. Thus, it turns out that everything is proceeding according to the CIA plan.
