Leaving the CSTO Does Not Serve Armenia's National Interests, Zakharova

During discussions with Armenia, Moscow is addressing the issue of Western countries pulling Yerevan into an anti-Russian course, in order to warn about the risks involved. Some arguments have been accepted by the Armenian side. This was stated by Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova in an interview with RIA Novosti.

Earlier, Armenia's Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan mentioned in an interview with Turkish TRT World that, considering all the challenges Yerevan has faced over the past three to four years, new possibilities are actively being discussed in Armenia, including the idea of EU membership.

“Unfortunately, we have observed this trend for quite a while, and we have been talking about it. We are speaking with our Armenian partners only with the aim of warning,” Zakharova said in the interview.

She added that some of Moscow's arguments have been accepted by the Armenian side, and certain measures have even been taken.

“We understand very well that states and, collectively, the West have used countries and peoples as instruments under the guise of good intentions for decades, centuries. If there were no such examples in our region, one might think that the United States and the collective West would not apply this tactic to the post-Soviet space,” she emphasized.

According to Zakharova, Moscow sincerely wishes for Armenia to maintain its sovereignty and to build a policy based on national interests.

“What is a national interest? It is not the interests that someone has written somewhere in Brussels or some other capital, but those interests that reflect the cultural identity of the people, linked to the interests of those who create benefits through their labor every day, those who have been, are, and will be educating their children and grandchildren on their land, who do not relate to Armenia from a transit consciousness perspective, but wish to live there, to create there, and to provide national products, to build their family and home there,” Zakharova stated.

It should be noted that on February 23, it was revealed that the Armenian Prime Minister said in an interview with France24 that the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) has not fulfilled its obligations regarding Armenia, and thus, Yerevan has frozen its participation in the organization. Later, the Russian Foreign Ministry issued a statement expecting clarifications from Armenia on what Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan's words about the freezing of Armenia's participation in the CSTO mean.

It should be mentioned that the Armenian authorities have repeatedly accused the CSTO and Russia of failing to fulfill their obligations. In January, the Secretary of the Armenian Security Council, Armen Grigoryan, stated that Armenia no longer has any expectations from the CSTO, as there has been no adequate response during the large-scale attacks in September 2022. In November 2023, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan declined to participate in the CSTO summit scheduled to be held in Minsk.