Azatutyun.am. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov accused the West on Monday of trying to end Russia’s close relationship with Armenia as he met with his Armenian counterpart Ararat Mirzoyan amid unprecedented friction between Moscow and Yerevan.
“We see undisguised attempts by Western countries to estrange Armenia from Russia … undermine the regional security architecture while thinking and caring not about the interests of the countries located here but about their own vested geopolitical interests,” he told reporters after their talks in Moscow.
Lavrov also renewed Russian allegations that the Western powers are seeking to hijack Armenian-Azerbaijani agreements brokered by Moscow during and after the 2020 war in Nagorno-Karabakh.
The Russian Foreign Ministry similarly claimed last month that the West wants to “squeeze Russia out of the region” when it reacted to the deployment of 100 or so European Union observers to Armenia’s volatile border with Azerbaijan. By contrast, the Armenian government hailed the deployment, saying that it will reduce the risk of fresh fighting along the border.
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Earlier this year, Lavrov rebuked Yerevan for refusing a similar mission offered by the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) in November. Armenian leaders have repeatedly accused the Russian-led alliance of failing to defend Armenia against Azerbaijani “military aggression” in breach of the CSTO statutes.
Speaking at a joint news conference with Lavrov, Mirzoyan did not rule out the dispatch of CSTO monitors to Armenia’s border areas, saying that CSTO member states keep “working” on such a mission.
Lavrov sounded more optimistic on that score. He also indicated that a planned meeting of the Russian, Armenian and Azerbaijani foreign minister will take place soon after all.
The meeting was originally scheduled for the end of December. Mirzoyan cancelled it in protest against Azerbaijan’s blockade of the sole road connecting Nagorno-Karabakh to Armenia.
The blockade is another reason why Russian-Armenian relations soured in recent months. Yerevan has accused Russian peacekeepers in Karabakh of doing little to unblock the Lachin corridor.
Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian said last week that if the peacekeepers are unable to protect the Karabakh Armenians against Azerbaijani military attacks Moscow should ask the UN Security Council to “activate additional international mechanisms.” The Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman, Maria Zakharova, laughed off Pashinian’s statement.
Mirzoyan reiterated on Monday Yerevan’s calls for the dispatch of an international fact-finding mission to the Lachin corridor. “We hope to cooperate with the Russian side on this issue,” he said.
Lavrov did not back the idea. He again urged the conflicting sides to comply with the 2020 ceasefire that placed the corridor under Russian control and committed Baku to guaranteeing safe passage through it.
The top Russian diplomat was “sincerely satisfied with the results of today’s talks” with Mirzoyan.
“We spoke frankly, as befits between friends,” he said. “I am sure that this conversation will contribute to the further growth of mutual understanding and deepening of ties between Russia and Armenia.”
