Azerbaijani gas not to influence Moscow's position on Karabakh

PanARMENIAN.Net - Armenia closely followed RF President Dmitry Medevedevs's visit to Baku and signature of agreement on purchasing Azerbaijani gas, Sergey Minasyan, Deputy Director of Caucasus Institute, told a news conference in Yerevan. "Armenian society was concerned over the prospect of Moscow's exchanging NKR for Azerbaijani gas," Armenian political scientist noted.



But Moscow, according to him, needs Azerbaijani gas for implementing its energy strategy in Europe and impeding realization of Nabucco project. In the meantime, the speaker found Baku's concerns ungrounded. "Despite economic and energy interests, Moscow gives preference to geopolitical interests. It is necessary to remember that Yerevan and Moscow have recently agreed upon a number of serious issues such as creation of CSTO rapid reaction forces," he said.



By signing a document, Moscow and Baku only agreed upon the terms of the future agreement, the expert noted. "Baku pretends to be conducting a complementary policy. I don't think gas negotiations will in any way influence Russia's positions on Karabakh settlement," Minasyan said.