Russia Responds to Pashinyan's Statement on Armenia's Withdrawal from CSTO

The decision of Armenia to withdraw from the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) is a reorientation of the country towards the West. This course has been consistent since Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan came to power. This was stated in an interview with «Газетa.Ru» by the First Deputy Chairman of the State Duma's Committee on CIS Affairs, Konstantin Zatulin.

“He (Pashinyan) is going along his path, which is quite clear. There can be a debate or a subject of discussion about how much he set this course when he came to power in 2018, or as we all see, started to implement it only in 2022. And although all public signs of the Armenian government's reorientation relate to 2022, I believe that from the very beginning, Pashinyan's entry was inspired by the idea of reorienting Armenia towards the West. This includes the war in Nagorno-Karabakh, which Pashinyan demonstratively lost, placing the responsibility for the fate of Nagorno-Karabakh and its residents on Russia; it was simply a link in an overall plan, not a coincidence or a combination of adverse circumstances,” Zatulin said.

The deputy noted that Russia has lost a lot by trying not to pay attention to Pashinyan’s policies and continuing to believe in the possibility of cooperation. “I have repeatedly warned that our desire to placate Mr. Pashinyan, to show that we do not pay attention, that we believe in the best regarding the possibility of cooperation with Pashinyan's government, is perceived as our weakness or misunderstanding. For me, this has been quite evident since the first days of Pashinyan's rise to power. In order to maintain some channel of communication with Armenian civil society, we created the ‘Lazaryan Club’ right after Pashinyan's rise in 2018 (it unites politicians, experts, and diplomats from both countries, named after Armenian philanthropists, the Lazaryans): to maintain some string, some connection with those in Armenia who still believe in relations with Russia, and we are trying to keep the fire alive at the hearth. But based on the best intentions, Russia's official course until now has been to completely refrain from intervening in everything happening in Armenia, to distance itself from activating ties with the Armenian opposition, and not acknowledging all this with the expectation that it would be appreciated and perceived by someone. In my opinion, on this path, we have gained nothing but lost everything,” he concluded.

The announcement about Armenia's exit from the CSTO was made by Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan in parliament. Then, Armenia's Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan stated that Prime Minister Pashinyan did not say that Armenia was leaving the CSTO: “The Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia said that we will decide when to leave; we will decide, but we will not go back—neither less nor more. If someone claims that the Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia has said that Armenia is leaving the CSTO, they are mistaken, and this is very easy to prove.”