The events taking place in Armenia do not inspire optimism in Russia, since Yerevan, under far-fetched pretexts, is taking steps aimed at collapsing Russian-Armenian relations, while engaging in defamation of the Russian military, border guards, and the CSTO as a whole. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov stated this in an interview with Izvestia.
The diplomat emphasized that in this way, the Armenian leadership is distorting history.
"Nothing is mentioned that it was the CSTO that repeatedly defended the interests of Armenia in difficult situations, that it was ready to send its peacekeeping mission to the republic in 2021 in order to reduce the tension in relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan, and the mandate of the mission was fully agreed upon at the ministerial meeting in Yerevan in the fall of 2021. We sat until the night, approved everything. In the morning, when the Presidents and Prime Ministers had already met, Mr. Pashinyan said that there was no consensus"
Lavrov said.
According to the minister, just a few days later, Pashinyan called for a similar mission to Armenia, but for European peacekeepers. The Azerbaijani side was promised that the EU mission would operate only for two months, but in the end it was extended, and its number was doubled. Now, it will also include military personnel from Norway, Canada and America, so it will become the mission of NATO.
The Russian Foreign Minister recalled that after Pashinyan came to power in Armenia, Vladimir Putin stated at numerous meetings with him that Russia would improve relations with Yerevan without relying on previous experience, but based on how the new Armenian leadership would act.
"In response, Nikol Pashinyan said that both the CSTO and the Eurasian Economic Union are structures that are fundamental for Armenia, for the development of its economy, for preventing its isolation in the South Caucasus. And it was in this direction that relations developed all the years until 2020, when the conflict flared up between Azerbaijan and Armenia. And then Pashinyan turned to Putin - both as an ally of Russia and as a member of the CSTO - and you know how our president literally at night, tirelessly, negotiated with the leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan to stop this war",
Lavrov said.
Further progress along the path to peace, including trilateral agreements on border delimitation, restoration of economic ties and unblocking of transport communications, as well as the overall normalization of Armenian-Azerbaijani relations, including the signing of a peace treaty, was carried out with the active participation of Russia, which proposed its initiatives .
"And in parallel with this, the European Union was dragging Armenians and Azerbaijanis into its fold, and Pashinyan was the main supporter of the idea of working on the platform of the EU and the United States. They regularly went there, to the detriment of the meetings that were planned on the territory of the Russian Federation",
Lavrov said.
The minister shared his impressions of his conversation with Pashinyan in Yerevan. According to him, there was a feeling that the Armenian prime minister still realized how beneficial it was for Armenia to continue allied relations with Moscow and work within the framework of such associations as the CSTO and the EAEU. However, at the moment, the Armenian leadership bluntly states that Armenia should rely on the EU, since the CSTO allegedly fails to fulfill its obligations to Yerevan.
"I am sure that this does not meet the interests of the Armenian people and our interests from the point of view of historical friendly ties with the Armenians, from the point of view of the huge Armenian diaspora that lives in Russia, and from the point of view of stability in the South Caucasus. The goal of those who are now luring the Armenian leadership to the side of the West is simple: to prevent stability in the South Caucasus, to try to turn this region into a zone of its dominance - just as the West is trying to do this in Central Asia, and in many other parts of our common continent",
Lavrov said.
