Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) spokesperson Maria Zakharova has expressed bewilderment over the statements of Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan that Armenia’s Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) partners had allegedly failed to fulfill their obligations to Yerevan in September 2022.
Pashinyan had earlier stated that the CSTO partner countries do not guarantee Armenia’s security and territorial integrity, as well as to deliver hundreds of millions of dollars in weapons and military equipment for which, according to him, Armenia had already paid. According to the Armenian PM, such actions posed an “existential threat” to Armenia and attested to the alleged decision to destroy Armenian statehood and annul its sovereignty.
Commenting on these remarks during Friday’s press briefing, Maria Zakharova noted that she does not know what “decision” or whose actions it is about. According to her, such statements seem to be an incoherent set of allegations and require clarification.
“Is he [i.e. Pashinyan] accusing the CSTO of destroying Armenian statehood? It’s strange for me to hear all this. Perhaps the quote was wrong, let’s clarify,” the Russian MFA spokesperson noted.
Zakharova added that judging by the context, Pashinyan’s aforesaid statements referred to the situation around Nagorno-Karabakh. However, she noted that she does not recall, or is not aware of any legal decision that had recognized Nagorno-Karabakh as part of Armenia.
“I remember how Nikol Pashinyan went there and danced; that’s what I remember. But I don’t know anything about the legal recognition or inclusion of this territory into Armenia,” Zakharova said.
In this regard, the Russian MFA spox noted that in the absence of a clear understanding of the context and subject of the accusations, it is impossible to give a meaningful comment.
“I do not understand what threats by the CSTO against Armenian statehood it is about. Maybe they mean something else,” Zakharova said.
She added that after clarifying the respective wording and facts, the Russian side will be ready to provide explanations and comments.
