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As the latest in our regular series of analysis for Radio free Europe/Radio Liberty’s (RFE/RL) Armenian Service, Regional Studies Center (RSC) Director Richard Giragosian commented on 21 July on the negative impact on Russia from the tragic downing of a civilian airliner over Ukraine. Giragosian noted that while it is now “increasingly evident that the downing of the Malayasian aircraft was committed by pro-Russian forces in eastern Ukraine, who mistakenly targeted the aircraft as a Ukrainian military plane, the complicity of Russian President Vladimir Putin in terms of his decision to finance, arm, train and even encourage his pro-Moscow separatist proxy force has led to three distinct developments.”

In an interview with the Ukrainian weekly “Mirror of the Week” newspaper published on 18 July, RSC Senior Analyst David Shahnazaryan was cited for his critical analysis of the outlook for the Russian-led Eurasian Union project. According to Shahnazaryan, it is now increasingly unlikely that Armenia may join the Customs Union/ Eurasian Economic Union in the current year. Further, he argued that actually “it is very likely that Armenia will return to the Association Agreement with the EU.”

In an interview with the Armenian “1in.am” electronic news agency, RSC Senior Analyst David Shahnazaryan offered extensive analysis assessing the impact of the tragic downing of a civilian Malayasian Airlines Being 777 over Ukraine. According to Shahnazaryan, the civilian aircraft was most likely downed by pro-Russian militia units in Donetsk in the eastern part of Ukraine, probably using the Russian “Buk” anti-aircraft missile system.

In a two-part interview published on 16 and 17 July by the Armenian daily newspaper “Aravot,” RSC Project Director Haykak Arshamyan offered his analysis of developments in Armenian foreign policy, with a focus on the new security environment in the wake of Russian aggression against Ukraine, and also assessed the current state of domestic politics.

According to Dr. Arshamyan, the resilience of Armenian civil society has changed the internal political dynamic of the country, to the point where the Armenian government has become unable to effectively limit or silence civic activism. He further noted the demise of the Armenian government’s stated ambition to join the Russian-driven Eurasian Union project, and stressed that the future of Armenian relations with the European Union (EU) remains promising, despite the setbacks form the Armenian president’s blunder to sacrifice the Association Agreement with the EU.

www.aravot.am/2014/07/16/479964/ (first part)

www.aravot.am/2014/07/17/480280/ (second part)

In a brief interview with Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty's (RFE/RL) Armenian Service, RSC Director Richard Giragosian commented on recent developments in Armenian-Russian relations, welcoming the recent statement by the Armenian president expressing concern over recent Russian arms sales to Azerbaijan.

http://www.armenialiberty.org/content/article/25453267.html

video: www.armenialiberty.org/media/video/25452837.html

audio, with the original English and translation into Armenian:
www.armenialiberty.org/audio/audio/1173397.html