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.