Did Armenia clinch a deal forcibly?
"Armenia concluded a deal with Russia as it is in a difficult situation," expert on the Caucasus Thomas de Waal said commenting on the recent agreement on deploying Russian military base in Armenia.
Thomas de Waal said RA President Serzh Sargsyan pinned great hopes on the Armenian-Turkish peace deal, Azatutyun (Liberty) Radio Station reports.
"Serzh Sargsyan invested a great political capital but, unfortunately, the normalization process failed this year," said Thomas de Waal.
The expert thinks that the talks on the Karabakh conflict have reached a deadlock making Azerbaijan raise a hue and cry. Russia made use of the situation and imposed the agreement on Armenia. The latter was forced to agree because of the country's miserable economy.
As to the extension of Russian military base deployment terms, Thomas de Waal said the agreement was not a great achievement since Russia's long-term military programs usually fail in the Caucasus.
