ArmInfo.Russia has never been the initiator of the cooling of Russian-Armenian relations. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov stated on Thursday at a press conference on the results of the activities of the Russian Foreign Ministry in 2023 in response to a request to assess the current level of relations between Yerevan and Moscow.
At the same time, he noted that Russia remembers when many of the current officials of Armenia, when they were still in the opposition, during various political campaigns, called for leaving the CSTO and EAEU during various political campaigns. "And when Prime Minister Pashinyan came to power, we did not have even the slightest impulse to somehow distance ourselves from Yerevan. Everything developed the same as under his predecessors in the economy, in energy, in the social sector and in military-political affairs. But what you see now is: For example, the document on sending the Organization's mission to the border of Armenia and Azerbaijan, agreed upon at the CSTO summit in Yerevan in 2022. The ministers agreed, and at the level of top officials Pashinyan said that Armenia could not sign now, and almost simultaneously the EU mission was deployed there. Well, this is Armenia's choice," the Russian minister noted.
At the same time, he drew attention to the fact that the EU mission, which began to take an active interest in the work of Russian border guards on the territory of Armenia, instead of engaging in confidence- building measures, tried to constantly "sniff out what, where and how it goes, what Russia is doing."
The Russian Foreign Minister added that Moscow has repeatedly raised this issue at meetings with Armenian partners, just as it wanted to understand why Yerevan refuses to accept the CSTO mission in parallel with the EU mission.
"The answer was that the CSTO disappointed Armenia because it did not condemn Azerbaijan. Yes, we know this answer. But if we go along the entire path of this conflict, then both the Armenian and Azerbaijani sides will accumulate acts there, and this can go so far . Therefore, one can either look for someone to blame and refuse the possibility of getting real help in strengthening the borders, or work with Western partners. The CSTO has disappointed, Russia has disappointed, but the West has not. This is the choice of the Armenian leadership," he noted.
The diplomat also recalled that a number of Russian citizens were declared persona non grata in Armenia for their assessments of the current situation in relations between the two countries, which does not fit into the allied nature of relations between Yerevan and Baku. He also recalled the problems that arose in relations between the two countries when Yerevan decided to sign the Rome Statute of the ICC. Lavrov also stated that Yerevan does not object to the obvious desire of the West to oust Russia from the South Caucasus.
The Russian Foreign Minister also referred to the regional 3+3 mechanism, expressing his opinion that this format has prospects in the future, as it does not depend on any global situation and is free from the geopolitical game of preserving hegemony, which Washington is developing together with colleagues from Brussels.
"I repeat once again, we have very 'warm' relations with the Armenian people. We are confident that history will arrange everything back to order, but we will not solve all the problems alone," Russia's chief diplomat summed up.