ArmInfo. Russia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs has given an ironic response to Artur Hovhannisyan, an Armenian MP and member of the dominant parliamentary faction Civil Contract.
"In response to a statement by Mr Artur Hovhannisyan, Secretary of the dominant faction Civil Contract of Armenia's Parliament, that he cannot understand Russia's demand to explain to it Armenia's participation in the U.S. military exercise in Europe, we state he must be based on his own wording he himself is surprised at," reads a statement by Russia's foreign office.
Below is an answer Maria Zakharova, Spokesperson for Russia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, gave at the April 12 news briefing to a question about Armenia's refusal to host the CSTO exercise.
Question: Armenia refused to host CSTO military exercise. At the same time, it has decided to participate in the NATO military exercise. What is the Russian foreign ministry's view of Yerevan's position? Can this move by Yerevan be considered an unfriendly one that could worsen the bilateral ties between our countries?
Answer: I will not repeat, and draw your attention to the fact that I just commented on the topic of Armenia and CSTO. As for NATO, the alliance continues the practice of actively engaging its partner countries in its [military] maneuvers. It does so by deploying NATO standards, and tries to transform the countries' defense complex to gain leverage over their internal and external political processes, development of their armed forces.
First of all, it refers to the post-Soviet area, which is a real field of geopolitical confrontation with Russia for NATO. The US and its allies are trying to discredit the regional nations' collaboration with our country. They are involving them in various formats of interaction that are anti-Russian and sometimes Russophobic in nature. Such actions by NATO cause destabilization, heighten conflict potential, and create new dividing lines in various regions.
We have requested an official explanation from our Armenian partners regarding their participation in the NATO military exercise. Our reaction [to it] will be clear after we receive their response. No doubt, Yerevan's refusal to host CSTO [military] maneuvers is regrettable and does not contribute to the enhancement of regional security. They probably mistranslated it to Artur Hovhannisyan.