Yerevan must actively use Moscow platforms - expert 

ArmInfo. Armenia should raise problems with the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) at meetings of the Councils of the statutory structures of this organization, and not refuse to participate in them, political scientist Suren Surenyants stated during a discussion on the RA Public Television channel, answering the question of whether or not the Moscow platform should be used for negotiations on issues related  to the security of the Armenian state.

As the political scientist noted, what is important in this issue is  the content, and not the participation in the negotiations itself.  According to him, Armenia's foreign policy should involve active  diversification on all platforms, including the CSTO platform.

At the same time, according to Surenyants, Armenia's dependence on  Russia undoubtedly needs to be reduced; the country's security system  needs serious diversification. "There cannot be two opinions on this  issue, but this does not mean that one should refuse to participate  in all CSTO events, since this may be perceived as a demarche on the  part of official Yerevan," the political scientist noted.

"It is quite possible that even a strategic partner, for objective  reasons, may not fulfill its contractual obligations for arms  supplies, but these demarches can lead to serious problems,  especially against the backdrop of intensified Russian-Turkish  relations. For this reason, Yerevan must participate in the  negotiation processes at all venues. Moreover, the Russian Federation  has not left the region anywhere, and its platform continues to play  a very important role in world politics.

The political scientist noted that against the backdrop of ongoing  processes in Yerevan, the role of the West is often overestimated. It  is obvious that the United States, the European Union and other  states of the Western world cannot resolve any issue. "Based on the  developments of global processes, it can be unequivocally stated that  the role of the West in world politics is beginning to decline, and  this process is inevitable. Against this background, demarches  against one of the geopolitical centers cannot be called  diversification, especially when you don't know its agenda, and in  order to know it, you need to participate in its platforms,"  Surenyants noted.

He added that Armenia must take into account and use the existing  differences between the three regional players - Turkey, Iran and  Russia. "There is only one unwritten consensus between them - there  should be no Western countries in the region. Yerevan must take this  circumstance into account when considering Armenian-Russian and  Armenian-Turkish relations in one important system, since whether  Armenia will or will not depend on these relations," the political  scientist emphasized, pointing to the data of the RA Statistical  Committee that the first 10 months of this year indicate that Armenia  has become even more economically dependent on the Russian  Federation.

Recently Yerevan has shown open disdain for participation in various  events under the auspices of the CSTO and Russia. Prime Minister of  the Republic of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan did not attend the summit of  the Organization, whose example was followed by Speaker of Parliament  Alen Simonyan, Ministers of Defense and Foreign Affairs Suren  Papikyan and Ararat Mirzoyan, and Secretary of the Security Council  Armen Grigoryan. It is curious that these demarches are taking place  against the backdrop of an even greater intensification of  Armenian-Russian trade and economic relations.

According to the Statistics Committee, Armenia's foreign trade  turnover in January-September 2023 amounted to $13.7 billion. The  leader among Armenia's trading partners is traditionally Russia,  which accounts for 34.7% of the total trade volume. In particular,  during the reporting period, the volume of trade turnover between the  two states amounted to $4.2 billion with an annual growth of 56.3%.