Not All Countries Are Desirable for Armenia: Pashinyan

During a question-and-answer session with the government in the National Assembly today, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan stated that he personally considers holding the EEU summit in Armenia to be unproductive.

"I can tell you why: unfortunately, due to known circumstances, not all members of the EEU Supreme Economic Council are desirable for Armenia," he said.

When asked whether this decision is directly related to the ratification of the Rome Statute or if there is a question regarding Vladimir Putin's potential arrest, Pashinyan responded: "When we ratified the Rome Statute, we were in communication with our Russian partners at that time. We brought our example with the United States to them. We have a bilateral agreement with the United States that highlights certain features in our relations under the framework of the Rome Statute. We offered the same mechanism to Russia, but for various reasons, I cannot say, Russia did not agree to that," he noted.

Anna Grigoryan also raised a question regarding the CSTO, stating that if the point of no return has been crossed, as Pashinyan claims, then "what is the rationale for not exiting this organization?" In response, Pashinyan said: "As for the CSTO, there is no rationale, there is our perception of speed and tempo. You see that we are moving very clearly and very consistently in a very specific direction. Regarding why you are not doing it this way, why are you not doing it that way, there are various considerations. Ultimately, we have decided that this is how we must act, and this is how we are acting."