On 10 August, the former national security advisor of the US President Donald Trump, John Bolton, held an interview with the Armenian ArmNews TV Channel where he spoke on various issues regarding the security environment in the Caucasus.
In the interview he stated that the level of the Karabakh conflict has actually increased in many ways, and it is a loss for the Armenian and Azerbaijani people. He explained what he meant during his visit to Armenia (Caucasus Watch reported) when he had announced that Armenia’s Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan was in an excellent position to make a decisive move on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. He said that he was registering the fact of what could happen when one lives in a democratic society when a new head of the country assumes office. According to Bolton, this is a period to see whether international conflicts, especially those in a deadlock, have a chance to end the standstill. However, he added that after the encouraging respective signs during the initial meetings between Armenian and Azerbaijani officials, there were limited signs of improvement since his visit.
Bolton also said that he understands that resolving the conflict is difficult, but he considers the Caucasus to be a key geopolitical region, not only for those who live there, but also for the US and the world. He also recognises that is actually a very dangerous environment because of Armenia's several neighbours.
The former national security advisor was also very critical towards Turkey, especially in terms of the country’s engagement within NATO. “The purchase of S-400 from Russia, according to our law, was to result in inforcing sanctions against Turkey. It is simply incompatible for NATO ally to buy Russian air defence systems,” he said. He also stressed that the Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has an agenda aimed at the Islamisation of everything. He referred to the recent act of turning the Hagia Sophia into a mosque.
Bolton also touched on the organisations which are funded by the American-Hungarian businessman George Soros, saying that they act on their own behalf and are not affiliated with the US government. “The organizations funded by it are accountable to their leadership. They do not receive orders from the U.S. Government, it is for sure. People must not believe that Soros represents the official policy of the United States. People may treat Soros’ organization the way they want to, but it has not received any permission and legitimacy from the US Government,” he said.
