During it, secret agreements became known
The invitation to the EAEU summit by Ilham Aliyev turned into a public skirmish between him and Nikol Pashinyan. The leaders of Azerbaijan and Armenia began to sort things out without waiting for tripartite negotiations — Vladimir Putin managed to appease the disputants only the third time. During the discussion, it turned out that Moscow has secret agreements with Azerbaijan, which came as an unpleasant surprise for Pashinyan.
Russia has decided to celebrate its presidency of the EAEU in a big way. The usual meeting of the «five» has grown into a large-scale event that stretched over two days.
On May 24, the leaders of Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan took part in the Eurasian Economic Forum and dined together on cream cheese soup and veal steak. And on Thursday, together with Pashinyan, they gathered at the Supreme Council of the EAEU in the Kremlin.
As a guest, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, who arrived at the trilateral talks on Karabakh, joined this meeting. And the heads of Uzbekistan and Tajikistan got in touch online. Thus, just two weeks after Victory Day, Vladimir Putin again gathered all the loyal leaders of the CIS — a gesture showing how important the support of the closest partners is for the Kremlin.
The President of Kazakhstan, Kassym-Zhomart Tokayev, hinted at the forum that the conversation was to be serious. According to him, a unique phenomenon has appeared in the Eurasian Union, and what is there in the union — in world political history — according to him: Russia and Belarus demonstrate an unprecedented level of integration, «they even have one nuclear weapon for two.»
“And there is another level of integration represented by Kazakhstan, Armenia and Kyrgyzstan. How will we work in such conditions? Tokayev questioned without reason, offering to discuss the current situation in detail. The Kazakh leader made no secret of the fact that «other» members of the association want the EAEU to remain an exclusively economic union. There should be no politics or consolidation on international issues on the agenda. The main thing is national interests and healthy pragmatism. However, as expected, there was no public discussion on the given topic.
Vladimir Putin, opening the meeting, said that both the previous evening and since the morning the leaders had been actively discussing the development of cooperation. And they even “were able to delve into the details of specific industries.”
“Cooperation is progressing really well!” — confirmed the GDP, noting that the main beneficiary is Armenia, where record GDP growth rates are recorded. “Nikol Vovayevich, how much? 7%? — said Putin. “No,” Pashinyan readily responded. — Last year it was 12.6%, and this year — 12.1%.
Vladimir Putin was very surprised. He obviously didn't expect that kind of response. “12.1% growth in the country's GDP,” the president repeated slowly, trying to process what he was hearing. “This, of course, is a serious, very serious figure.”
Where it came from, for obvious reasons, was not understood, although the Armenians themselves sincerely admit that the point is not at all in strengthening integration through the EAEU, but in sanctions against Russia and their consequences.
Firstly, with the beginning of the NWO, thousands of Russian relocators moved to the country along with money (and often business). Secondly, Armenia is actively involved in the supply chain of parallel imports. It is no coincidence that the main drivers of growth were trade and the service sector, which added 23.2% and 22.2% in January-April. While the local industry and the agricultural sector still do not show outstanding results.
Vladimir Putin acknowledged that it will not be easy for other members of the EAEU to keep up with Armenia. But it is necessary to strive to increase the pace. The development of integration, in his opinion, will be facilitated by industrial cooperation and an increase in joint production under the common trademark «Made in the EAEU».
The President proposed to his colleagues to create their own “climate club” on the basis of the union, as well as a rating agency that will objectively and impartially evaluate the economies of the participants. Another new task is the formation of a «Eurasian ideology». To do this, according to Putin, the participating states should coordinate national educational and scientific programs, launch joint training courses and prepare common textbooks in various disciplines. In other words: unlike other countries, Russia clearly wants to see the EAEU not only as an economic union.
However, the issue of Eurasian integration instantly faded into the background when Ilham Aliyev got the floor. To begin with, the leader of Azerbaijan transparently hinted that his country does not need any EAEU at all.
“Our economy is self-sufficient and does not need outside support. We have achieved complete economic independence, and this gives us the opportunity to pursue a completely independent foreign policy, which we are doing with success,” Aliyev said triumphantly looking at his colleagues.
He did not deny himself the pleasure of poking his finger in “purulent wounds” of Armenia, noting that “new airports are being built on the lands liberated from occupation” of Baku and they intend to create the Zangezur corridor, “which will become part of international railway routes.”
Naturally, the Prime Minister of Armenia could not bear this calmly. «Sorry!» — Nikol Pashinyan jumped up from his seat and began to explain for the hundredth time that the agreements reached with the mediation of Russia do not provide for any Zangezur corridor. They mention only the Lachin corridor, which should be controlled by Russian peacekeepers, but in fact is blocked by Azerbaijan. And the Zangezur corridor should pass through the Syunik region of Armenia, and, therefore, is an encroachment on its territorial integrity.
“You need to have a very wild imagination in order to see territorial claims in my words,” Aliyev snapped with an undisguised grin. — The corridor is not an encroachment, but an international term. We initiated its creation. And it is our right to initiate whatever we want.”
Vladimir Putin tried several times to appease the disputants. But unsuccessfully. Each new remark by Aliyev was followed by a response by Pashinyan and vice versa.
In the end, the President of Azerbaijan revealed a terrible secret: Russia, he said, also supports the Zangezur corridor. “I’m hearing about this for the first time,” Pashinyan muttered in confusion. His confusion allowed Putin to finally break off the protracted discussion. The President acknowledged that some contradictions remain in the positions of the parties. “Terminology is important. But it is much more important that there are also agreements of a principled nature on the fundamental issue of territorial integrity,” Putin stressed. He expressed hope that in the trilateral format the leaders would be able to «talk calmly, in a businesslike manner» and reach «some» agreements.
However, frankly, it was hard to believe in both.