As a new border commission prepares to start work, it will have to reckon with persistent disagreements over what to do with a handful of quirks of Soviet border-drawing.
The dram has gained about 15 percent against the dollar in recent weeks, bolstered by an influx of Russians to Armenia and a move to buy gas in rubles rather than dollars.
Even as opposition mounts to the government’s negotiating strategy with Azerbaijan, it’s unclear whether the protest leaders can offer a credible alternative.
Armenia’s willingness to accept Azerbaijani control over Nagorno-Karabakh comes with an expectation that Baku will make reciprocal compromises. But there are little indications so far what those might be.
They say that the parliament is standing aside while the executive branch unilaterally makes consequential decisions about the future of Nagorno-Karabakh.
Many Armenians fear that the government is preparing to cede control over Nagorno-Karabakh and are demanding that their prime minister renounce such a concession.
If Armenians stay in Karabakh under the Azerbaijani flag, it would represent an exception to the otherwise zero-sum game of territorial control in the region.
One Armenian-populated village was evacuated and taken – at least temporarily – by Azerbaijani forces, as Russia criticized Baku for breaching the ceasefire.
