YEREVAN. – Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh have entered a new “conspirological” phase in the process of settling the Karabakh conflict, according to Zhamanak daily newspaper.

“At this point starts the third phase, where it is apparent that a positional battle has begun between the West and Russia, first for the sponsor, so to speak, of the negotiation process. It is noticeable that the West is showing a somewhat restrained posture.

“It is possible that the West is waiting for the diplomatic failure of Russia.

“It is possible that the West is convinced Russia has no resource to advance its plans, [and] therefore you should leave it to aimlessly waste the existing resources.

“That is, the Karabakh issue actually becomes one of the chains of Western tactics, already being used for two years, to squeeze out the resources of Russia. Of course, first of all, Russia itself at its own will because it is apparent that after Azerbaijan’s offensive [on Nagorno-Karabakh], Russia has gone on the diplomatic offensive.

“On the other hand, Moscow has nothing else to do, since otherwise, it will have to reconcile with the gradual reduction of [its] influence in the Caucasus,” Zhamanak wrote.