Europe faces test of 'Western commitment' to Ukraine & Azerbaijan's 'dangerously timely' boycott
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Transcript
00:00 We can now bring in Richard Giorgosian, director at the Regional Study Centre in Yerevan.
00:05 Thank you very much for joining us here on France 24 today.
00:09 You heard there from Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky speaking from Granada.
00:15 Is there a risk that the conflict in Ukraine, the ongoing war, could essentially dominate
00:21 the agenda in Granada today?
00:23 This has concerns grow, concerns in Europe grow that US funding to Ukraine could potentially
00:30 run dry.
00:31 Well, yes, it's already a concern, unfortunately.
00:36 We also see this as a test of Western resolve and commitment.
00:41 But frankly, I'm more concerned about the missed opportunity where Azerbaijan's boycott
00:46 of this security summit is dangerously timely and significant.
00:51 I want to talk about that next because, of course, we have many problems in Ukraine,
00:58 not just what's the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine, in Europe rather.
01:05 We've recently seen an exodus of over 100,000 ethnic Armenians go from Nagorno-Karabakh
01:12 into Armenia.
01:14 European leaders gathered here today were hoping to use the occasion to bring Azerbaijan
01:18 and Armenia in the same room.
01:20 It doesn't look like that's going to happen.
01:22 Turkey is also a no-show, a backer of Baku.
01:27 Can European leaders resolve anything when it comes to Nagorno-Karabakh without Azerbaijan
01:33 present?
01:34 For two reasons, no.
01:37 First is there is nothing to resolve anymore.
01:40 The forced displacement of the Armenian population of Nagorno-Karabakh unfortunately represents
01:47 a period that it's too little too late for the West to engage.
01:51 Having said that, I do think the recent visit to Armenia of the French foreign minister
01:56 was an important contribution to regional security.
02:01 But this is a missed opportunity diplomatically.
02:04 And more specifically, Azerbaijan's boycott is aligning itself more with Moscow and Turkey
02:12 against the West, not in cooperation with the West.
02:17 There have been increasing calls for sanctions for European leaders to stand up to Azerbaijan.
02:24 But European leaders are backed into a corner, aren't they, given that there's this growing
02:29 reliance on Azerbaijan for energy?
02:32 I actually disagree, Delano, because what we see is a dangerous precedent.
02:39 Azerbaijan seems to have vindicated and validated the use of force.
02:43 That's a very dangerous precedent that undermines Western values.
02:48 And secondly, this gas deal between Azerbaijan and the European Union is disingenuous at
02:54 best, accounting for a marginal volume of gas for Europe and essentially representing
03:02 a swap agreement where Azerbaijan re-exports Russian gas to the European Union.
03:10 But how would, you mentioned the use of force.
03:13 Azerbaijan was able to inflict so much damage in the span of 24 hours.
03:20 Well, actually, this is no surprise.
03:23 Unfortunately, it's the latest in a mounting escalation that included over nine months
03:29 of a virtual siege of the enclave Nagorno-Karabakh.
03:34 But I would also argue the war of 2020 never finished, never ended for Azerbaijan.
03:40 And the latest military assault is the culmination and unfortunately the conclusion of this reliance
03:48 on force and military attempts to resolve essentially a diplomatic conflict.
03:55 Richard, we're going to have to leave it there.
03:57 Thank you very much for joining us on the program today.
03:58 That was Richard Geregosian joining us there from Yerevan.