![]() ![]() On February 22, the day after Russian President Vladimir Putin recognized the independence of the breakaway Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics in eastern Ukraine, Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev traveled to Moscow to sign an agreement increasing the two countries’ military and diplomatic cooperation. This conflict directly affects Armenia and Azerbaijan’s behavior toward Russia. The decades-long war over this breakaway, primarily ethnic Armenian region in Azerbaijan flared up again in 2020, resulting in more than 1,000 casualties. Russia plays an important role in the most volatile conflict in the region - that between Armenia and Azerbaijan over Nagorno-Karabakh. (Mauricio Lima/The New York Times) The Weight of the Nagorno-Karabakh Conflict Armenian soldiers and a Russian peacekeeping soldier, on the vehicle, at a checkpoint in Nagorno-Karabakh. Working with them to resolve these conflicts and preserve their sovereignty should be a priority for the United States and Europe. ![]() While these conflicts persist, Moscow will maintain significant leverage over Yerevan, Baku and Tbilisi. Each has reason to be cautious: Moscow has exploited ongoing conflicts in all three countries to dominate its self-defined sphere of vital interests. Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia have tried in different ways to balance the need for good relations with Moscow with a desire to support Ukrainian territorial integrity and sovereignty. ![]()
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