Russia Wants You to Think it Can End Wars: Moscow’s Shady Motivations in Nagorno-Karabakh

Russia seeks to reclaim the influence it had in the Soviet era, with the exertion of control over its former Soviet states as a central foreign policy goal. Moscow’s methods can be varied, but they are always troubling. The most pertinent example is the war in Ukraine, but Russia is choosing an additional path to power through the Caucasus mountains. Azerbaijan and Armenia have been crucial for Moscow's sphere of influence.