Yerevan /Mediamax/. In the case of the war between Azerbaijan and Armenia, Russia’s position was determined with strategic priorities and not historically emerged expectations.

Timofei Bordachev, Program Director of the Valdai International Discussion Club, writes about it in “Neither a Mother, Nor a Step Mother” article published in “Russia in Global Affairs” journal.

“In this case, Azerbaijan was backed by Turkey, whose relations with the West are so complicated that there is no need to talk about the strengthening of the positions of Europe or the United States as a result of the defeat of the Armenian side. In its decisions Ankara has long been acting as an independent partner of Russia. It allows Moscow to be confident that Turkish activism can always be balanced by Russia itself or by an average regional power like Iran,” the political analyst writes.

“Russia’s neighbors should have neither illusions that Moscow will pay for loyalty, nor hopes that objective balance of power in the general geopolitical area can be neglected. This understanding should become in the future the most reliable way to overcome the historical perception of Russia as a metropolis, and not as an independent, albeit, by definition, a friendly power.

The ability to make sovereign decisions means behavior based not on the historical experience but on the rational assessment of one’s position. Russia, in turn, is already demonstrating such ability on a global scale when it makes sure that its conflict with the West does not cross the dangerous line of a military clash. To be successful in the long term, the Russian policy on the surrounding environment will inevitably require constant revision of concrete goals and tasks. Their content will each time depend on considerations of a broader nature – the dynamics of the balance of power on a global scale or relations with average players (Europe, Turkey, Iran), as well as the internal evolution of neighbors,” Timofei Bordachev notes.