Armenian and Russian authorities are dissatisfied with each other, but they continue not to cross the “red lines” in the conditions of these public complaints and criticisms.
It starts here.
The years of Nikol Pashinyan’s power were marked by the policy of raising problems in relations with Russia. After the change of power in 2018, the RA authorities regularly discussed the difficulties in Armenian-Russian relations on different issues and levels.
What problem did they solve by presenting these problems to the public? And in general, were these problems unknown or noticeable to our society? Even if a particular part of society unconditionally believed in the ally Russia, the position taken by Moscow after the 2020 44-day war has left no room for doubt.
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Therefore, it is time to understand what the Armenian authorities are pursuing to solve the problematic issues between Armenia and Russia, or, for example, to teach Putin a lesson or to punish Russia. Or should we talk about the treacherous actions of the Russian authorities towards Armenia for years? Experts, commentators, and journalists can and must speak about these phenomena. But what problem are the authorities solving? Are those problems diminishing? Not at all; they remain unsolved.
However, with all this, Pashinyan’s government continues to voice harsh assessments and then soften its position towards Russia. This government has appeared in a cycle of expressing moderate criticism and then moderately positive positions in its relations with Russia.
A few days ago, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan interviewed British journalist Roland Oliphant of The Telegraph, in which he made several remarkable points regarding Armenian-Russian relations, which prove the above line.
The journalist reminds Pashinyan’s position that Russia did not fulfill its obligations under CSTO. What does this mean in practice? Is Armenia seeking future NATO membership? Pashinyan answers: “We have not said that we deny and reject cooperation with Russia in general and in the security sector in particular. What we have said is that we are going to diversify our relations in the security sector. What does this mean? Does this mean that we are going to break our security relationship with Russia? No, it doesn’t mean that, but it means that in the field of security, we are preparing and ready, and we are discussing and working to establish relations, for example, with the European Union, which is already a reality by and large, with France, which is already a reality by and large, with the United States, which is already by and large a reality, with the Islamic Republic of Iran, which is already by and large a reality, with India, which is already by and large a reality, and with many other countries. Our security relations with the United States, or France, or India, or the European Union are not naturally directed against Russia. This is simply the consequence of the reality that the security relationships we used to have in the past do not address our security needs. ”
As for relations with NATO, he notes. ” As to NATO, this is not an item on our agenda. In other words, we have not and are not discussing NATO membership. We do have partnership relations with NATO, and there is nothing new there. We used to have an Individual Partnership Action Plan, now that program is being reformatted into a certain partnership format that doesn’t imply membership. I will also tell you something that we are at least a de jure member of the CSTO today, and I am not sure if there are discussions on that topic in general, or rather in Armenia, as to how well the alliance-based strategy corresponds to Armenia’s interests, in general, in the long term. ”
The journalist asks. “You say that you do not turn your back on Russia. But that is not realistic in today’s world. The countries that you listed, the close ties with France, the USA, the EU, they are in a massive geopolitical confrontation with Russia. You really have to make a choice, don’t you? ”
Pashinyan recalls one of his interviews when he said that we are not Russia’s ally on the issue of Ukraine, but he adds: ” I want to say that our security cooperation with the United States or France or our other security partners is not directed against our other security partner. Another thing is that our partners may have concerns about how cooperation with others could affect their security systems. We are trying to manage this issue being as transparent as possible. ”
The next topic that worried Moscow was Armenia’s decision to join the Rome Statute. In this case, Pashinyan first reminds that RA started the process of joining the Rome Statute in December 2022 and that decision was conditioned by the assessment of changes in our security environment. ” We ratified the Rome Statute, among other things, analyzing the consequences of the September 2022 war and noting that there are some cracks in our security system. In that sense, we also ratified the Rome Statute as an additional factor to increase Armenia’s security level. I understand that it was a difficult time period, and we made that decision because it was a difficult period. That decision serves to increase the security level of Armenia. As for the legal nuances, I can’t carry out a legal analysis right now because that’s the job of lawyers. I think, as I said, Armenia as a responsible state should adhere to all its international committments, including the commitments it has in relations with the Russian Federation, the commitments it has in relations with the international community. By the way, there are various opinions and legal analyzes on that topic, and in particular, the lawyers who say that the current heads of state have immunity, insurmountable immunity, due to their status are not just a few. I mean, it’s a legal issue, not a political issue that I have to discuss and respond to. ”
” Is it possible for you to simply call Vladimir Putin and tell him just not to come, because you cannot promise that he will not be arrested?” asks the journalist, to which Pashinyan replies: ” I don’t think that Vladimir Vladimirovich needs my advice.”
Let’s also note that while recently, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Galuzin emphasized Moscow’s role in the Armenian-Azerbaijani settlement, the other Deputy Foreign Minister stated that EAEU membership is effective for Armenia and withdrawing from it would be against Yerevan’s interests. According to Alexander Pankin, during the last few years, Armenia has become a leader within the Union, particularly in terms of GDP growth, capital investments, and the volume of construction work.
In fact, the Armenian side does not discuss the issue of leaving not only the EAEU, but also the CSTO. However, official Yerevan has criticized the CSTO at the highest level for a long time for not fulfilling its contractual obligations. According to the Armenian side, these problems still need to be solved. Despite this, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova insisted the other day that Yerevan has the broad opportunities of the CSTO at its disposal and also emphasized that Russia and Armenia remain allies.
Those relations are also essential in Yerevan, the representative of the ruling power stated the other day. “I am very positive that our partners are talking about the alliance and importance of Armenian-Russian relations,” said Vagharshak Hakobyan, deputy of the “Civil Contract” faction. The official deputy emphasized that the Armenian side is not discussing the issue of withdrawing from the EAEU and the CSTO.
The issue of Armenia’s withdrawal from the CSTO is off the table today, Viktor Vasilyev, Ambassador with Special Assignments of the Russian Foreign Ministry on CSTO issues, announced two weeks ago. According to him, the CSTO’s attention today is focused on implementing the decisions of the CSTO Collective Security Council held in November 2023. all countries of the bloc participate in these activities. “Yerevan is now discussing the documents adopted during the session above of the CSTO Collective Security Council, in which the Armenian side did not participate. Regarding some of those documents, there is the agreement of the Armenian side, from which it can be concluded that there is no question of Armenia’s withdrawal from the CSTO,” Vassilev said.
Answering the question about Yerevan’s non-participation in the CSTO events, the diplomat noted that it was the choice of the Armenian leadership, although it was made under pressure. “In many ways, this situation is the result of the pressure of pro-Westerners, as well as the understandable emotions of the Armenian leadership and residents,” he noted. Vasilyev, expressed hope that the voice of reason will prevail over emotions sooner or later.
Two things have remained permanent in Armenia-Russia relations. The authorities of Armenia and Russia are dissatisfied with each other, but they continue not to cross the “red lines” despite their public complaints and criticisms.
Emma GABRIELYAN
“Aravot” daily newspaper, 14.02.2024
The publication was produced within the project “Competing Narratives” implemented by Media Initiatives Center and n-ost.
