If the Russian deal goes ahead the map of the South Caucasus will be totally redrawn:

• a new Russian military corridor and military zone in the ex-Armenian occupied rump of Artsakh

• meanwhile the Armenian military exits and Azerbaijan retakes almost all its lost territory

• a corridor from the Azerbaijani enclave of Nakhchivan to Azerbaijan proper across Armenia will he created gifting a land bridge between Turkey and Azerbaijan

• a Russo-Turkish ‘monitoring centre’ will be created and possibly also Turkish peacekeepers on Azerbaijani lines

And it goes without saying the map of the South Caucasus is being completely redrawn tonight without any input from the European powers or the United States — despite Paris and Washington being in the Minsk conflict resolution group.

Brussels, Paris and Berlin need to ask themselves what kind of “Geopolitical Europe” is the Commission talking about if it has neither say nor influence on the redrawing of borders in a corner of the European continent itself?