The escalation in Nagorno-Karabakh demonstrates what many call the obsolescence of Cold War-era military alliances.  Perhaps for the first time in recent history, Western European countries such as France began to offer cautious political support to the same side of the military conflict as Russia and Iran - both are allies of Armenia - against a NATO member ally Turkey, New Statesman reported.

The conflict could end in an absurd alliance of NATO members with different parties or even NATO members against each other - although this is not the first time, as we are reminded of by the ongoing confrontation between Turkey and Greece in the eastern Mediterranean, it is noted.

Once again, the conflict in NATO's backyard pits Turkey against much of Western Europe.

Meanwhile, the United States is engrossed in the presidential election campaign and mostly absent, and this state of affairs is unlikely to change if the country's commander-in-chief contracted the coronavirus.

It is no coincidence that the fighting began just a month before the US presidential election, said Carey Cavanaugh, former OSCE Minsk Group co-chair.

Emmanuel Macron has been widely criticized for calling NATO a brain dead in an interview last year. Macron's reasoning was that there is no strategic decision-making coordination between the US and its NATO allies, in addition to Turkey's uncoordinated aggressive actions.