Artin DerSimonian

⛰️ Russia and Eurasia | Research Associate @quincyinst

[Artin DerSimonian @artinthinks]

Excellent analysis here from @MJMBlackburn81 for @RStatecraft

"Developing a diplomatic off-ramp and building a new security architecture are not capitulation, nor do they mean reducing support for Ukraine's defense. Deterrence and diplomacy are partners."

[Matthew Blackburn @MJMBlackburn81]

Glad to share my latest piece @RStatecraft exploring the unspoken, structural risks of Europe’s current strategy in Ukraine.

While the mainstream narrative insists Russia is under unsustainable strain and that deep strikes are a low-cost method to force a ceasefire, this ignores a perilous reality: the erosion of Cold War-era redlines.

We are entering uncharted waters. With decision-making authority dangerously dispersed across Western capitals and no functional diplomatic track, the prevailing belief that escalation can be precisely managed is a comforting but dangerous illusion.

As the conflict intensifies, European leaders must urgently restore conflict guardrails and develop a viable diplomatic off-ramp.

Read the full analysis here:
🔗 https://t.co/70otl3CyCu

[Artin DerSimonian @artinthinks]

Reducing #Armenia-'s parliamentary elections to a "pro-Russian" vs. "pro-Western" contest is not just misleading—it risks becoming a self-fulfilling prophecy, undermining regional stability and prosperity.

🧵My latest @RStatecraft on a better way forward (link below)

[Responsible Statecraft @RStatecraft]

NEW @artinthinks on impact of this weekend's Armenian elections. "Much of this outside attention has simplistically characterized the election as a binary choice between pro-Russian opposition parties and the pro-Western Civil Contract."
https://t.co/CKTEiDFHMs

[Artin DerSimonian @artinthinks]

In an era of increasing competition across Eurasia, there are no guarantees of freedom or fortune.

Pursuing a policy that makes Armenia a bridge rather than a battleground, however, would be a pretty wise bet—and not only for Yerevan.🧵

[Artin DerSimonian @artinthinks]

Reducing #Armenia-'s parliamentary elections to a "pro-Russian" vs. "pro-Western" contest is not just misleading—it risks becoming a self-fulfilling prophecy, undermining regional stability and prosperity.

🧵My latest @RStatecraft on a better way forward (link below)

[Artin DerSimonian @artinthinks]

While negotiations over Ukraine inch forward, the last thing the U.S. should want is to provoke Moscow’s fervor elsewhere, lest Washington’s regional policy triangulate the interests of Russia, Iran, and even China in undermining or sabotaging TRIPP.

[Artin DerSimonian @artinthinks]

While Pashinyan and the ruling party speak of an EU future, the truth is that membership is a far way off. In the here and now, pursuing practical economic relations in all directions is in Armenia’s best interest.

[Artin DerSimonian @artinthinks]

The internationalization of Armenia’s elections

https://t.co/5H30ptQ3nG

[Artin DerSimonian @artinthinks]

"In unilaterally removing the threat of pointing America’s newly developed Dark Eagle hypersonic missiles at Russia, the administration has also weakened an important Russian incentive for compromising over Ukraine."

@GeorgeBeebe13 with an important read.
https://t.co/rPWKwrdOY0

[Artin DerSimonian @artinthinks]

Great new Caucasus Analytical Digest @CSS_ETHZurich on the transformation of Armenia-Russia relations with writings by @Sukiasian_Narek on the main challenges in the alliance and by @Tigartsakh & Eduard Arakelyan on Yerevan's defense reorientation.

https://t.co/5Tw9fIzHGX

[Artin DerSimonian @artinthinks]

Great read on how the Iran war is shaping peacemaking in the South Caucasus

[Joshua Kucera @joshuakucera]

The Armenia-Azerbaijan peace process was a rare one to which Trump made a real contribution. But now there are worries both in Baku and Yerevan that Iran has distracted the White House from the work that still needs to be done. Me in @ForeignPolicy:

https://t.co/r1TgNSsvQD

[Tigran Grigoryan @Tigartsakh]

In my latest column, I analyzed Nikol Pashinyan’s visit to Moscow and its main agenda.

[Artin DerSimonian @artinthinks]

Frank meeting yesterday in Moscow between Armenian PM #Pashinyan and Russian President #Putin.

Two months before elections, Pashinyan said the "very successful" talks "secured specific agreements across our entire agenda from culture to military-technical cooperation."

[Artin DerSimonian @artinthinks]

Full readout below
https://t.co/eXwJeLwPPU

[Artin DerSimonian @artinthinks]

Frank meeting yesterday in Moscow between Armenian PM #Pashinyan and Russian President #Putin.

Two months before elections, Pashinyan said the "very successful" talks "secured specific agreements across our entire agenda from culture to military-technical cooperation."

[Artin DerSimonian @artinthinks]

Many issues clearly still unresolved between Yerevan and Moscow, including:
- Armenia's worsening relations with the CSTO
- TRIPP and US involvement in the South Caucasus
- Armenia's deepening ties with the EU