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Moscow dissatisfied with Armenian PM's remarks about Russia while he was interviewed by Italian press

04 September 2023 18:40 (UTC +04:00)

"The tone of Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s remarks regarding Russia in an interview with the Italian press is unacceptable. Moscow is very discontented with these statements," a diplomatic source from Russian MFA told TASS, APA reports.

"Moscow is extremely discontented with the recent public statements of the Armenian leadership, including the interview given by the Armenian Prime Minister to the Italian newspaper "La Repubblica" and the statement made by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Armenia on August 31.

In particular, the Armenian PM declared the possibility of Russia moving away from the region. In fact, they are trying to artificially push Russia out of the South Caucasus, using Yerevan as a means to achieve this goal. As Armenia's closest neighbor and friend, Russia has no intention of leaving the region. But this should be a two-way movement: Armenia should not become a tool of the West to oppress Russia," said a diplomatic source.

The source added that Russia considers relations with Armenia in the field of security and economy "not as dependence of one country on another, but as an equal, mutually beneficial and proven partnership."

According to the diplomatic source, the thesis that "the Garabagh conflict was never a territorial dispute between Armenia and Azerbaijan" is false.

"At the root of the conflict lies the issue of the status of the former Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Province of the Azerbaijan SSR, while Armenia has long controlled a part of the territory of Azerbaijan," said the agency’s interlocutor.

At the same time, he noted that the armed conflict that took place in the fall of 2020 was mainly the result of the hasty and provocative actions of the Armenian leadership, including the statements that "Garabagh is Armenia" and the participation of the Nagorno-Karabakh "president" in the swearing-in ceremony in Shusha: "This , significantly devalued the agreements reached by the parties through the mediation of the OSCE Minsk Group. "If it were not for the intervention of Russia and President Vladimir Putin personally, the results of the military operations would have been more tragic."

The diplomatic source also described the claims that Russia is completely indifferent to "Azerbaijan's aggression against the sovereign territory of the Republic of Armenia" as groundless. He noted that relevant consultations were held between the two countries’ foreign affairs and defense ministries, as well as recalled the visits of high-level representatives of the CSTO to the region: "The key way to resolve the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflicts is the implementation of tripartite agreements at the highest level.

At the same time, Yerevan does not fully use the potential of CSTO, this was particularly evident in the refusal of the deployment of the organization's mission and the choice in favor of an ineffective European Union mission in this field. Against the backround of this, arguments related to a certain crisis in the CSTO are similar to politicization.”
The interlocutor of the agency recalled the leadership of Armenia turning 180 degrees from "Garabagh is Armenia" statements in Prague on October 6, 2022 and in Brussels on May 14, 2023 under the auspices of the EU to recognize Nagorno-Karabakh as an integral part of Azerbaijan: “This fundamentally changed the terms of the agreements dated November 9, 2020 and has made the activity of the Russia’s peacekeeping contingent in Karabakh as difficult as possible. Despite this, Russian peacekeepers are making every effort to prevent the situation from escalating in the area.”
The source noted that such unjustified attacks on the peacekeeping contingent bring nothing but harm, including to Armenia itself...
“Armenia's withdrawal does not help to solve the difficult humanitarian situation around Nagorno-Karabakh. Megaphone diplomacy can’t be able to replace practical work in the Baku-Khankandi-Yerevan triangle,” - the diplomatic source summed up his opinions.