The Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan stated that his country is not an ally of Russia in the war against Ukraine. He emphasized that the war greatly affects all international relations of Armenia.
Pashinyan stated this in an interview with the Czech TV channel CNN Prima News.
"You said that we are allies of Russia. Of course, it was never said out loud, but I think it is noticeable. We are not Russiaʼs allies in the war with Ukraine. And our perception of this war, this conflict is anxiety, because it directly affects all our relations," he noted.
According to him, in the West they believe that Armenia is an ally of Russia, but in Russia they see that Yerevan does not support the war.
"It turns out that we are nobodyʼs allies in this situation, and therefore we are vulnerable. It seems that there is an option to avoid all these collisions, but in reality, the more complex the situation, the smaller the room for maneuver. We are avoiding it not because we do not have an opinion about the situation, but because of what I have already said: our problems are much larger, they do not allow us to be more involved in solving other issues," Pashinyan noted.
The Kremlin has already reacted to these statements by Pashinyan. The spokesman of the Russian president Dmytro Peskov noted that "this was taken into account."
"We know that there are certain nuances regarding Armeniaʼs approaches to the conflict around Ukraine. We take them into account, we know about them," he stated.
At the same time, Russia continues to develop "conceptually allied relations with Armenia."
- In January 2023, the Ministry of Defense of Armenia informed the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) that official Yerevan considers it inappropriate to hold CSTO military exercises in the country in 2023. The CSTO also includes Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan.
- Prior to that, the Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan at the Collective Security Treaty Organization summit in Yerevan, refused to sign the draft declaration of the CSTO Collective Security Council and the document on joint measures to provide assistance to Armenia. After that, the first suspicions arose that Armenia intends to leave the CSTO.