Ednews presents an interview with Deputy Director of the Institute of Political Studies Daria Grevtsova:

 - Why do you think the US is increasing its military presence in Armenia? What is their main goal in the South Caucasus? Considering that on August 6, several materials appeared regarding the landing of two US Air Force aircraft at Zvartnots Airport in Armenia.

 - The US aims to use Armenia to create an armed outpost in the South Caucasus. At that time, if there were enough serious weapons under the control of the United States, it would be possible to create a great threat and conflict centers against the enemies. Two of the countries Washington considers enemies, Iran and Russia, are located in the same region. Other countries of the region, Azerbaijan and Turkey, also border Armenia. That is, the creation of such conflict centers in the South Caucasus is a priority for the United States. They are already promoting their people and experts there so that they can influence both the Armenian leadership and ordinary citizens. As we have seen, if now the goal of the United States is to push Russia out of the South Caucasus, then they can stop and go to armed provocations against others, even neighboring countries. This is a very dangerous trend, and it is necessary to talk about it and convey to the leadership of Armenia first of all, that the consequences of such cooperation of the United States in the military field are severe.

 - Do you think Armenia will leave the CSTO by the end of this year?

 - Armenia wants to leave the CSTO for a long time, but it is waiting for the decision of its curators and, accordingly, the decision of the Western countries. If it is decided that Armenia should leave the organization, then it will leave at any time, maybe before the end of the year, or by the law, in the first months of the next year. Therefore, since we do not know the decision of the curators of Armenia, it is impossible to say whether he will leave or not. It should also be noted that Armenian Prime Minister Pashinyan has been actively speaking in front of the public recently, including declaring that the time will come when the country will leave the organization. Armenia will leave the CSTO, but not in the current situation. Its Western partners may use Armenia to create discord in the CSTO and create any obstacles, including bureaucratic obstacles. We know that Armenia does not contribute to the CSTO, and does not participate in its joint meetings and trainings. That is, the creation of any obstacle is entirely in his soul. It is also possible that Armenia is used by Western special services as a kind of spy to monitor what is happening within this organization. In any case, some people representing Armenia, and secretaries stayed there and from here they can pass information to Western intelligence agencies.

 - The exclusion of the article on the Zangezur Corridor from the draft peace agreement opened the way for new processes in the region. Can the exclusion of the Zangezur Corridor from the peace agenda have a positive impact on the negotiation process? What are the consequences of this decision in terms of regional and global interests?

- We see that to push Armenia to conclude a peace agreement, Azerbaijan is even ready to remove the dam on the Zangezur corridor. That is, President Ilham Aliyev proposes to discuss this after the signing of the peace agreement. This is, of course, a step taken to quickly conclude this peace agreement with Armenia and work together to solve problems. As we know, regarding the Zangezur Corridor, Armenia insists that this corridor is not under the control of the Russian military, but the representatives of the Western countries - France and the United States. Therefore, of course, this creates a certain danger for Azerbaijan, because it means that its free movement becomes dependent. Civilians can depend on the decisions of Western countries when their cargo moves through this corridor. At any time, they can say that the passage is closed, or prohibited, or even give any reason to stop the operation of this route. If so, it will hurt the image of Azerbaijan. Therefore, this is a rather difficult point. We see that Armenia has chosen the path of cooperation with its Western partners, and the Western partners are not very friendly to Azerbaijan, the United States, and France. Therefore, such a complex dialogue regarding the Zangizur corridor is still pending. However, since it is a complex and long process, perhaps it is easier to take an alternative route from Iran for this Zangezur corridor. However, this decision taken in any form is important, and in order not to delay the signing of the peace agreement, Azerbaijan is ready to remove this clause regarding the Zangezur corridor from the peace agreement.

 - Since August 6, despite serious efforts, Russia has not been able to withdraw the Ukrainian army from the territories it occupied in the border areas of Kursk. Yesterday, Alexey Smirnov said at a meeting with Putin that the situation in the Kursk region is difficult, 28 settlements have already come under the control of Ukraine. How do you assess this situation? From an objective point of view, do you consider this operation a success?

 - The occupation of the Kursk region is a game of Zelensky and his curators. They understood very well that they were losing inside Ukraine. Therefore, they had to create a kind of "image victory", and strengthen their position, first of all, in the eyes of their population, Western curators, that they can do something and succeed. So, as we can see, they easily entered the Kursk region and took certain positions there. On the one hand, this can be called a success, because they have been there for more than a week, and this is a fairly serious period, which allows them to say that they are really strong and can do something. Of course, these are quite good materials for the Western press, they publish good articles supporting Ukraine. But, on the other hand, they still understand very well that Russia will crush them there and, of course, will not allow them to go deeper. Another question is how long will it take?

The Russian population is also located there, and Russia is fighting quite precisely to reduce civilian casualties. This would take some time, meaning they could be driven out immediately by heavy artillery fire, but then many civilians would be killed. Targeted strikes are needed to rule out the withdrawal of troops from the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Moreover, Zelensky's plan to approach the Kursk Nuclear Power Plant is generally unacceptable; In general, Kiev should understand that it will be responsible for what the Ukrainian Armed Forces have done in the direction of the Kursk region, and this will have serious consequences. Therefore, it is impossible for the Armed Forces of Ukraine to directly say that this was a successful operation because we do not know its results.