Executive Director of International Relations Research Center of Ukraine, Mykola Kapitonenko, does not think that there will be a strong criticism to Azerbaijan at the NATO summit planned in July in Warsaw for unleashing military action on Karabakh-Azerbaijani border in April. Under the “Challenges to Security in the South Caucasus and NATO -2016” program, during the online press conference organized by “Region”, in response to the question of Aravot.am whether we should expect serious criticism against Azerbaijan at the NATO summit in Warsaw for unleashing a war on the Karabakh-Azerbaijan border, Mr. Kapitonenko said, “I think, the rhetoric in Warsaw generally will be aimed at expressing the views of the state functionaries of the member states of the alliance regarding the hostilities in April. However, it is less likely that there would be a criticism addressed directly to Azerbaijan.”
To our next question that Armenia and Russia have tried to create a unified air defense system and in the near future an agreement will be signed in the National Assembly of Armenia, so whether it will not harm the Armenia-NATO relations and whether Armenia will not be considered as hostile territory by NATO, the Ukrainian expert replied, “The creation of a united defense system in the region is a serious step for the ensuring security in the South Caucasus. However, it cannot have a serious role in Armenia’s relations with NATO. The Armenia-NATO individual partnership plan takes into account the relations with Russia, particularly Armenia’s accession to CSTO. So, I think that nothing new will happen in the triangle of Russia-NATO relations. In addition, NATO realized the importance of maintaining relations with all countries in the region. Therefore, breaking up of the relations would mean further complication of the already complicated situation.”
Tatev HARUTYUNYAN
