Russia takes into account the political and economic realities in the South Caucasus, and does not have the strength to remove Turkiye from the equation.

Axar.az reports that this was said by Dmitry Trenin, scientific director of the Institute of Military Economy and Strategy of the Russian Higher School of Economics.

"Russia is not an empire, we have left the imperial era, there is no struggle between Russia and Turkiye for the South Caucasus. Russia's relations with Turkiye are very complex, combining elements of cooperation and interaction with elements of competition, fortunately, not yet hostility. Russia, like Turkiye, tries to avoid hostilities in every possible way. Today, nobody has any illusions about Turkiye. But this country is a very important ally for Russia today. In the difficult situation of the Karabakh conflict in 2020, Russia tried to achieve a tripartite rather than a quadrilateral statement and to agree to Turkiye's official military presence within the framework of the Russia-Turkiye mission, and partially succeeded. Then, of course, it was possible to defame Turkiye, but what would Russia's foreign policy gain from this? The next front? Currently, Russia has fewer resources than the Russian Empire once had in its relationship with the Ottoman Empire and during the USSR. Russia does not agree with the increasing influence of Turkiye, Russia sees it simply as a geopolitical reality. The future of the Russian Federation will depend on when and how the special military operation ends. If Russia wins, then it will be a completely different situation. Then Russia will act more actively in other directions. "Turkiye, which takes its position regarding the war in Ukraine, knows this and this position is not pro-Russian," he said.