The Prime Minister of Armenia Regards Cooperation With Russia as a Mistake

Armenia's Prime Minister, Nikol Pashinyan, stated that the country's security dependence on a single center, namely Russia, has proven to be a strategic error.

This was reported by Armenia Today, citing his interview with La Repubblica.

"Armenia's security architecture was 99.999% linked to Russia, particularly in terms of acquiring weapons and ammunition. But today, when Russia needs weapons and ammunition, it's clear that even if it wanted to, Russia couldn't meet Armenia's security needs," he said.

According to Pashinyan, this example illustrates that security dependence or attachment to a single center is itself a strategic mistake.

"Only after we tasted the bitter fruits of this mistake, are we making very uncertain attempts to diversify our security policy," he said in an interview quoted by Armenia Today.

Pashinyan also mentioned that in the past, "we've seen situations where Russia would leave the South Caucasus in a day, a month, or a year."

According to the Prime Minister, Russian partners inform the Armenian side that Western countries are working with Armenia and pushing the country's government to take steps to push Russia out of the region.

"But when speaking with our Russian partners, we sometimes express our opinion and assessment that, on the contrary, we see that Russia is leaving the region because of the actions it takes or doesn't take. The reasons for this, we do not know," Pashinyan said.

He mentioned that there are processes leading to the belief that "the same scenario could repeat itself, and one day we might wake up and see that Russia is no longer here."

It is worth noting that in recent times, relations between Armenia and the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), effectively controlled by Russia, have significantly cooled. After the war for Nagorno-Karabakh in 2020, the CSTO did not provide any practical assistance to Yerevan.

The same happened after several shelling incidents on Armenian territory, allegedly by Azerbaijan.

Earlier this year, the Ministry of Defense of Armenia informed the CSTO that Yerevan does not consider it expedient to hold military exercises in the country for the organization. Later, Armenia refused its quota for the CSTO Deputy Secretary-General.