Wednesday, January 31 2024 16:37

ArmInfo. Moscow commented on the prospects for rapprochement between Armenia and NATO. Thus, on  January 31, during a briefing, spokesperson of the Russian Foreign Ministry Maria Zakharova, when asked to comment on the remarks of NATO Special Representative for the Caucasus Javier Colomina about the desire of the North Atlantic Alliance to continue to bring closer relations with Armenia, in particular, said:

"It seems to me that if someone wants closeness, they need to  understand how unsafe it is and what consequences it leads to. We  have already seen what NATO's closeness leads to in the example of  many countries: involvement in conflicts, loss of sovereignty and  independence, subordination to the will of someone else's planning in  every sense of the word and in all areas. And most importantly, the  lack of even the opportunity to realize one's own national  interests," a representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry noted.

At the same time, the diplomat expressed her opinion that in this  issue it is necessary to proceed from the basic principles and  analyze the national interests of each country, and in this case,  Armenia.  "You probably need to open a map and see which countries  this country is located between. You need to read history textbooks  for those who speak out not just about closeness - this is still a  sovereign country and its right to decide independently - but in  favor of this very certain closeness, which presupposes a severance  of relations with the countries of the region, their neighbors. Or at  least their breakdown," she said, once again emphasizing the need to  analyze the abovementioned and understand the national interests of  Armenia.

According to her, it is necessary to understand what brings  short-term, medium-term, and long-term benefits, and proceed from  that, rather than from promises. "The West is used to making promises  to everyone, but where and what have they fulfilled?", she asked,  adding that the Westerners only have enough money to bribe officials.

At the same time, Zakharova emphasized that when the need arises to  create real material bases for the development of the economies of  the relevant countries, with which NATO countries led by the United  States count on closeness, there is always no money. According to  her, at least in the last 30 years she does not remember any cases  when there were them.

Today Javier Colomina, the special representative of NATO in the  South Caucasus, stated  that NATO is satisfied with today's bilateral  relations with Armenia. " We are also very encouraged by the  decisions that Armenia has decided to take in their foreign policy  and defense policy, the shift they have decided to implement. I know  it is a decision that is difficult to implement and will probably  take a long time, but, of course, we encourage our partners to get  closer to us, and that is what Armenia is doing," he said.