View from Moscow: Yerevan should think long and hard before  purchasing American military equipment

ArmInfo.Yerevan should think long and hard before purchasing military equipment from the United States, first deputy chairman of the State Duma Committee on CIS  Affairs, Eurasian Integration and Relations with Compatriots  Konstantin Zatulin expressed such an opinion to ArmInfo.

"Armenia tried to maintain good relations with the United States and  France for all the years of independence. And considering, let's say,  not the best relations of Yerevan with Baku and Ankara, that would be  wrong by Russia to demand from Armenia refusing from these relations.  At the same time Moscow surely drew attention to the actual proposal  made by John Bolton to purchase military equipment from the US. In my  opinion, this development would directly contradict the obligations  of Armenia in the framework of relations with the CSTO. Meeting these  very obligations, Moscow supplies weapons on very favorable terms,  "the Russian politician emphasized.

During a visit to Armenia in October last year, US National Security  Adviser John Bolton suggested that the government of the republic buy  American weapons. Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, in  response, did not rule out the possibility of discussing this issue  in the case of "receiving a favorable proposal from Washington." Two  days later, Armenian Defense Minister David Tonoyan said that at the  moment there is no need to purchase American weapons. Moreover,  according to him, Armenia does not have any other discussions on  military cooperation with the United States.

At the same time, Zatulin believes that Moscow has every right to  evaluate the extent to which the change of power in Armenia is  reflected in the defense potential of the allies of Russia in the  CSTO. In this light, the MP noted the criminal case opened in Armenia  against former Secretary General of the Organization Yuri  Khachaturov. According to his estimates, the public controversy  formed as a result within the CSTO not only does not reflect credit  to anyone, but also damages trust among the member countries of the  Organization.

"Of course, I know how this whole epic will end around replacing  Khachaturov with a new representative from Armenia or Belarus. And  even the name of the one who will be appointed as the head of the  CSTO as a result of all this. However, today I consider it to be  wrong and contradictory to the interests of the countries  participants, including Russia ", Zatulin summed up.

As a result of the early recall by Yerevan of the former Chief of the  General Staff of the Armed Forces of Armenia Yuri Khachaturov from  the post of CSTO Secretary General, this position is vacant from  November 2, 2018 to this day, despite the fact that Armenia put  forward a new candidate. The chairmanship in the Organization moves  from one state to the next in accordance with the Russian alphabet.  And, given that Khachaturov worked only half of the three years term,  and the term of the chairmanship expires only in 2020, Yerevan quite  reasonably insists on the appointment of its representative. The name  of the Armenian candidate is not named, however, according to the  insider information embedded in the media, he is ex-Minister of  Defense of the Republic, Lieutenant-General Vagharshak Harutyunyan.

In turn, Belarus, has nominated its own candidate, Secretary of State  of the Security Council of the Republic, Stanislav Zas. A total of 6  countries remain in the CSTO after the exit of Uzbekistan: Armenia,  Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia and Tajikistan. According to  the CSTO Charter, a decision on the appointment of a new Secretary  General in any case can be made only in the format of the six CSTO  countries, solely on the basis of consensus, taking into account the  interests of all parties