ArmInfo. On November 13, member of the board of the previously ruling Republican Party, Eduard Sharmazanov, called on Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and members of his team to present at least one convincing argument that would indicate the need to sever relations with Russia.
In a conversation with journalists, he did not rule out the possibility that the authorities would actually lead the country to withdraw from the CSTO and withdraw the Russian base from the territory of Armenia, giving the country the status of supposedly outside the bloc state. "Everything is possible, you can, for example, declare war on a state with nuclear weapons, after which the Armenian people will bear the brunt of the problems. Back in 2018, I stated in parliament, that I do not see Pashinyan as the Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the country's armed forces, since in our region, which is full of conflicts and where the interests of superpowers intersect, there should not be illiterate, emotional, chaotic leaders. Their presence is already a misfortune," Sharmazanov said.
The politician noted that Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, whose country is a member of the European Union, continues to avoid aggravating relations with Moscow. Neighboring Georgia, being a candidate for EU membership and following the path of European integration, also maintains balanced relations with Russia.
"I can give a thousand arguments against severing relations with Moscow - from economic to military one, the possibility of rising prices for gas and electricity, reducing the volume of transfers, not to mention the closure of the Russian market for Armenian goods and the abandonment of our borders. However, for whom am I saying this when there is no government in the country? Governance means protection of national interests," noted Sharmazanov, reacting with sarcasm to the question about the possibility of supplying Iranian gas to Armenia instead of Russian one. "You are playing games with the West, and do you think that Iran, being "happy" with these games, will supply you with gas for that?" asked the politician. He mentioned that the authorities of Armenia are so ignorant that they do not understand or do not see the process of regionalization of the South Caucasus, and this region includes Russia, Iran and Turkey. Instead of maintaining relations with them, Yerevan chose the West and Turkey. "Even President of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev, with his strategic relations with Israel, tries to separate his allies from Armenia, maintaining normal, balanced relations with Russia and Iran, which cannot be said about our authorities, who only worsen these relations, RPA vice-president emphasized.