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Moscow deployed the 2,000-strong peacekeeping contingent in Karabakh as part of a 2020 ceasefire deal – Copyright AFP Davit GHAHRAMANYAN<\/small><\/em><\/p>\nEmil GULIYEV with Mariam HARUTYUNYAN in Yerevan<\/em><\/p>\nWhen Russian troops deployed to Nagorno-Karabakh four years ago, their task was clear: keep the peace between bitter foes Armenia and Azerbaijan and prevent another war in the volatile region.<\/p>\n
But as Azerbaijani forces swept through mountainous Karabakh last September and crushed Armenian separatist forces in a matter of hours, the Russian mission looked lost.<\/p>\n
The Kremlin this week quietly confirmed that the peacekeepers were withdrawing, taking with them their weapons and hardware, as well as Russian clout from a region it long considered its own backyard.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are witnessing a historic process \u2014 Russians are leaving for the first time in two centuries,\u201d independent Azerbaijani analyst Elhan Shahinoglu told AFP.<\/p>\n
Moscow ruled over the Caucasus region first during the Russian empire and then in the Soviet era. When war broke out between Armenia and Azerbaijan after the USSR\u2019s collapse, Moscow sought to mediate.<\/p>\n
The Kremlin deployed almost 2,000 troops in 2020 as part of a ceasefire deal that halted six weeks of brutal fighting between the arch-foes over the Karabakh region.<\/p>\n
The accord held until the lightning Azerbaijani offensive last September that ignited an exodus of more than 100,000 Armenians from Karabakh and deepened their frustration with Moscow.<\/p>\n
\u2013 Russia \u2018betrayed us\u2019 \u2013<\/p>\n
\u201cAlong with the Russians leaving Karabakh, the last hope that the population will return home is gone,\u201d said Iveta Margaryan, a 53-year-old trained accountant on the streets of Armenia\u2019s capital.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Russians have betrayed us,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n
Observers of the Caucasus say Russia is too caught up with its invasion of Ukraine to retain its sway in the region.<\/p>\n
Azerbaijan has recently deepened ties with Turkey \u2014 a close military and political partner with shared cultural ties. And with the pullout from Karabakh, Moscow has further alienated Armenia.<\/p>\n
Yerevan has criticised Moscow\u2019s perceived shortfalls, with Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan busy forging closer ties with the West.<\/p>\n
In February, he froze Yerevan\u2019s participation in the Moscow-led Collective Security Treaty Organisation, a defence grouping of several ex-Soviet states.<\/p>\n
Yerevan also joined the International Criminal Court (ICC) against Moscow\u2019s wishes \u2014 a move that obligates it to arrest Vladimir Putin should he visit Armenia.<\/p>\n
The European Union and United States are now leading efforts to broker a peace agreement between the Caucasus foes, with Moscow stuck playing second fiddle.<\/p>\n
\u2013 \u2018Shattered\u2019 myth \u2013<\/p>\n
Moscow\u2019s unease over Armenia\u2019s rapprochement with the West has also become public. The foreign ministry this week demanded that Yerevan \u201cdisavow\u201d reports it was deepening military ties with Western countries.\u00a0<\/p>\n
France \u2014 home to a large Armenian diaspora \u2014 has also planted a flag in the region, intensifying its diplomatic backing for Yerevan and providing cutting-edge defensive radars and missiles.<\/p>\n
\u201cRussia is out, the West is in,\u201d said Azerbaijani political scientist Eldar Namazov.<\/p>\n
The Russian peacekeepers were meant to \u201cproject influence,\u201d said Gela Vasadze, senior fellow at the Georgian Strategic Analysis Centre.<\/p>\n
But their withdrawal has clearly illustrated the limits of Russia\u2019s power, he told AFP.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe myth that Russian boots never leave territories they had once stepped in is shattered.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Shahinoglu said Putin had withdrawn from Karabakh to keep up friendly relations with Azerbaijan and Turkey at a time when the Kremlin is isolated over the Ukraine war.<\/p>\n
But in doing so, Russia has lost its ability to \u201cexploit\u201d Armenian separatism in the Caucasus and leverage it for regional influence, he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cRussia has lost its historical footholds in the Caucasus for good.\u201d<\/p>\n
That sentiment was echoed in Azerbaijan, where the announcement of the Russian drawdown was met with joy and relief.<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople say Russian troops don\u2019t ever voluntarily leave,\u201d said Ramil Iskenderov, a 37-year-old courier.<\/p>\n
\u201cAzerbaijan proved that with the right policy it\u2019s possible to achieve the impossible,\u201d he told AFP.<\/p>\n
In Armenia, where Russia still maintains a military base, the peacekeepers\u2019 withdrawal was a final straw for some that meant Yerevan should sever military ties with Moscow.<\/p>\n
\u201cRussia has once again betrayed the Armenian people and sold us out. That\u2019s it,\u201d said Valery Harutyunyan, who lived in Karabakh before fleeing to Armenia in September.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe can\u2019t rely on the Russians again. It\u2019s impossible. We should kick Russians out \u2014 not only from Karabakh \u2014 but also from Armenia,\u201d he told AFP.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
Russia quietly exits Karabakh, ceding its clout ‘for good’
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#Russia #quietly #exits #Karabakh #ceding #clout #good<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Moscow deployed the 2,000-strong peacekeeping contingent in Karabakh as part of a 2020 ceasefire deal…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4736,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[7],"tags":[2817,2818,2815,812,2816,2814,1235],"yoast_head":"\n
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