Swift Azeri Response in Nagorno-Karabakh Signals Russia's Waning Hold in Ex-USSR Region

Azerbaijan's lightning victory in Nagorno-Karabakh, where Moscow has stationed peacekeepers, shows that Russia's influence is quickly dwindling in a region it has long considered its backyard, analysts say. Russia, which has been mired in Ukraine since the start of the assault last year, refused to intervene when Azerbaijan seized control of the Armenian-populated region of Karabakh last week. "What happened in Karabakh would have been impossible without a systemic weakening of the Russian state," independent Caucasus expert Gela Vasadze said. "Russia has no resources to shape the Caucasus affairs any longer." Over the past three decades Armenia and Azerbaijan have…