The official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, stated in a briefing with journalists today that the criticisms of the CSTO in Armenia, voiced by individual politicians, do not contribute to the search for mutually acceptable solutions, and such destructive statements have little meaning. After another attack from Azerbaijan against the sovereign territory of Armenia, when the CSTO did not take active steps, there were protests in Armenia, and some politicians called to revoke our membership in the CSTO.
Armen Vardanyan says that Zakharova’s statement contains both indignation and an allusion, and it is not the first time that such statements have been made by the Russian side, both at the official and expert level. “It must be said that Armenians’ patience has run out a long time ago, and we should no longer ignore all the problems or make such an attempt. It’s time to talk directly about all the problems that exist with our ally or allies,” Vardanyan says.
As far as if the Russian side will continue to carry out anti-Armenian actions after Zakharova’s statement, Vardanyan answered: “I don’t think that such an action will follow, but I don’t think that the statements of the Armenian side will lead to any serious, substantial success.”
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Maria Zakharova also said that Moscow evaluates the cooperation with Yerevan within the framework of the CSTO as effective, and the country’s presidency in the organization coincided with the period of special threats. Responding to this, Armen Vardanyan said that the Russian side is trying to save the face of the CSTO, and of course, by CSTO, everyone understands Russia.
“Russia is the driving force of that structure and plays the role of the first violin. That is why the Russian side is trying in every possible way to save the face of the CSTO. But a situation has arisen that it is no longer possible to save the face of CSTO. Even concrete practical steps are not taken to save the face of CSTO.
If before, during the Armenian-Azerbaijani war, they said that Artsakh is not an internationally recognized territory of Armenia, and they do not have any obligations, for a year now, it is Azerbaijan that regularly carries out military aggression against the internationally recognized territories of Armenia. They have crossed the border in many places, and they moved forward. Even today, the Russian ambassador to Armenia, Kopirkin, stated that the withdrawal of troops to the original positions is the only option for the settlement of the border problem. They also admit that the Azerbaijanis violated the internationally recognized border of Armenia and came forward, they carried out aggression against Armenia.”
The political scientist believes that the statements of the Armenian side about leaving the CSTO are not effective, and it is unlikely that they will influence the Russian side to really launch the CSTO, and not to monitor or present results and that’s it. “I don’t think that the CSTO will do a serious job to protect Armenia. The member countries of that structure have better relations with Azerbaijan than Armenia, and then the CSTO was created to serve the geopolitical interests of Russia, not the other member countries, and if Russia needs it, it will involve the CSTO in various activities, such as in the case of Kazakhstan, and if necessary, the CSTO will fulfill its responsibilities operationally. But we see that in Russian-Azerbaijani relations, a romance has started a long time ago, it is a honeymoon, and Russia does not want to rein in Azerbaijan, let alone fight against Azerbaijan. It just can’t or doesn’t want to control it. Therefore, I have no illusions about CSTO. This is a faceless, amorphous organization.”
And in that case, what should Armenia do in CSTO? This is a question that has been asked most recently. The political scientist says that this is a difficult question, and he doesn’t have an answer. “In case of withdrawal, I am sure that the Russian Federation will carry out punitive actions. It may come to an agreement with Azerbaijan and implement a new Parukh-2 operation in Artsakh or other things. On the other hand, it is risky to stay in the CSTO, because many Western countries do not want to sell or supply arms to Armenia, because the CSTO is a hostile organization for the West. Therefore, it is really a bad situation. It is unfortunate that we are in the swamp and there are no signs of getting out.”
Nelly BABAYAN
