At the beginning of October world events unfolded in a kaleidoscope, behind which it is difficult to trace a single logic at a glance. On October 6, 2022 in Prague, the leaders of Azerbaijan and Armenia not only met, mediated by European leaders, but also made historic statements about the conclusion in the near future of a peace treaty on the basis of recognition of the inviolability of borders and territorial integrity of each other. This means that the Zangezur corridor, which is of paramount geopolitical importance, will become operational in the near future.

In contrast to the Prague meeting, the visit of Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev to Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan in St. Petersburg on October 7, 2022, who was celebrating his 70th birthday on that day, was almost without special attention. Although here again the Azerbaijani and Armenian leaders found themselves sitting at the same table with the Russian president and the leaders of most other CIS countries, no special announcements were made. It became clear that Russia was finally ceding the role of 'chief moderator' of a settlement in the South Caucasus to the European Union and Turkey.

But the most interesting events began on October 8, 2022, with the explosion on the Crimean bridge, which was symbolically important to the Kremlin and from the morning of October 10, 2022 another missile attack by Russia against Ukraine began. Certain forces clearly began to re-spin the flywheel of war, using as an excuse the sabotage of the Crimean bridge, as a site of local but important logistical infrastructure for Russia, especially to ensure aggression in Ukraine.

The result is somewhat symbolic - Russia's geopolitical opponents are rolling back the Zangezur corridor, while Russia cannot ensure the security of even the only bridge to the occupied Crimea, which until recently was a source of pride for the Kremlin and the construction site of the century. There is a very skilful direction behind all these events.

One of the "interested parties" manifested itself both in the issue of trans-Eurasian corridors and in the issue of the war in Ukraine in a very unexpected way. But for some reason no one paid much attention to this manifestation.

After the explosion on the Crimean bridge, former Interior Minister of Ukraine Arsen Avakov, who has long been forgotten, appeared in his telegram channel and reminded that he "predicted" this explosion in his recent interview posted on October 6, 2022 and even indicated its approximate timing (within three days). It can hardly be explained by mere 'bluster' of the former politician of 'first importance' in Ukraine who headed the Ministry of Internal Affairs for over 7 years.

But we must remember that Arsen Avakov is a direct protégé of the Vatican in Ukraine. And it was he who at one time introduced the current President of Ukraine Zelensky to the Pope.

The most interesting thing is that on October 8-9, it was Avakov's compatriots, who unexpectedly "forgot" about "Artsakh", the Zangezur corridor and "genocide" in Russia, who called for "retaliatory strikes" for the Crimean bridge the most.

Also on the eve of Russian missile strikes on Ukraine on October 10, 2002. "tipped" to the future by propagandists near Kremlin (including those working for the Armenian lobby). They, without any official investigative data, began "churning out on the networks" on the evening of 9 October the alleged "details of the organization of the bombing of the Crimean bridge.

According to this information, two heavy goods vehicles were allegedly involved in the Crimean bridge operation. The delivery scheme was as follows: the cargo in which explosives were allegedly placed arrived by sea at the Georgian port of Poti from Bulgaria. From Poti, the truck travelled to Armenia, where the cargo was cleared according to customs union rules - and it was emphasised that this was a typical, non-suspicious route of those travelling to Russia. The vehicle then re-entered Georgia and from there entered the Russian Federation via the Upper Lars border crossing to Armavir, where the pallets were reloaded onto another truck, which headed towards Crimea.

That is, some representatives of the "most ancient nation" appeared to know in advance when the undermining of the Crimean bridge would be organized (and not some, but those closer to the Vatican than the President of Ukraine), while others were also quick to "investigate" it. They also hinted directly at the same "military corridor" through Georgia to Armenia, which they said the Russian Federation had to build for its own security.

Clearly, it is unlikely that the Vatican security services themselves organised the bombing of the Crimean bridge. But Avakov's words are a clear hint that the Pope not only knew what was going to happen, but also shared the information with his protégé in Ukraine, who had been prudently "benched" on the eve of the war.

The Vatican has a clear interest in the Zangezur corridor. This can be seen with the naked eye, taking into account the recent visit of Pope Francis to Kazakhstan, one of the key countries on the trans-Asian transit routes, which also has a vested interest in the functioning of that corridor.

Kavkaz Plus already mentioned the Vatican's interest in Kazakhstan earlier this year in the article "What is the Armenian contingent doing in Kazakhstan? (https://kavkazplus.com/news.php?id=35162#.Y0PdIj1BzIU ). In September 2022, Pope Francis not only spoke at the congress of representatives of world religions in the Kazakh capital, Nur-Sultan, but as the "future host" he began to recommend Kazakhs how to live their lives, although the share of the Pope's own subjects, Catholics, in Kazakhstan is minuscule. Pope Francis in his speech almost demanded to "democratize" Kazakhstan, to strengthen the role of Parliament with local authorities there. If to translate it on a human language, this ideologist of globalism demanded quickly to break Kazakhstan on appanage principalities, each of which would be governed from the outside, over Astana.

Undoubtedly, weakening of Russia's influence in Central Asia today is beneficial for the Vatican, and so far it "situationally supports" aspirations of Kazakhstan to cooperate with Turkic countries, with Turkey and Azerbaijan, and in fact it supports opening of Zangezur corridor (not accidentally so promoted the current peace process between Baku and Yerevan by Macron and Charles Michel, politicians close to the Vatican). But it is obvious that the Pope and his Jesuit order have "far-reaching plans" with respect to Kazakhstan, which are hardly in the interests of the Kazakh people. As well as Russian Federation has "far-reaching plans" regarding South Caucasus, where a variant of new Russian aggression against Georgia and break through "military corridor" in aid to Armenian revenge-seekers is also being worked out.

Interestingly, the further away, the more often the head of the Vatican makes statements that are considered "pro-Russian" even in Ukraine. On the eve of the current aggravation, Pope Francis commented on the situation in Ukraine at a meeting with his fellow Jesuits in the capital of Kazakhstan and said it was about "world war". Later, Pope Francis, while formally condemning Russia's new annexation of Ukrainian territories, sent an appeal to the Ukrainian president "to be open to serious peace proposals". In other words, to agree in fact to the annexation of part of the Ukrainian territories, knowing full well that Ukraine will not go along with it.

Since the Armenian project has long been "tame" for the Vatican, the militant hysteria stirred up by the Armenian lobby in Russia against the background of the Pope's "peace-loving" statements raises more questions than answers.

Grigol Giorgadze