Abandoning CSTO Against Armenia’s Interests, Moscow Says
Arguing that there are no real alternatives for Yerevan than Russia and its sponsored security organization, Moscow on Tuesday said that abandoning the two would be against Armenia’s interests.
The Russian Foreign Ministry’s CIS Department head Mikael Agasandyan told RIA Novosti that Armenia should unfreeze it membership in the Collective Security Treaty Organization, as there are no viable Western alternatives for Armenia’s security and economic advancement.
Agasandyan, who is Armenian by ethnicity, said Yerevan’s choice to not take part in the CSTO “contradicts the interests of the people of Armenia and considerably weakens national security.”
“Ultimately, there are no alternatives to the CSTO and Russia as guarantors of the stability of the [Armenian] republic. At this juncture, the doors of full cooperation in the CSTO are open for the Armenia’s return, and the mutual obligations within the framework of the organization remain unchanged,” the Russian foreign ministry official said.
“We expect that the Armenian partners, will overcome their doubts, and will again show interest in working in favor of the strategic interests of the friendly Armenian people,” he added.
Agasandyan also expressed hope that Yerevan’s decision to freeze its participation in the CSTO will not lead to a decision to exit another Russia-led effort, the Eurasian Economic Union. This year, Armenia holds the rotating chairmanship of the EEU.
The Russian official said participation in the EEU is beneficial for Yerevan.
He said Moscow hopes that Yerevan will not abandon the EEU because of the United States and and the European Union, which, he said, only offer promises of a “brighter future.”
“You don’t have to be an economic or political expert to see the obvious: the [Eurasian] union is beneficial to Yerevan, and it is largely thanks to it that Armenia’s economic growth rate in is demonstrating impressive positive dynamics which few can boast of,” Agasandyan said.
“As for the course taken by Yerevan toward closer cooperation with the European Union and NATO, here our partners have obviously the West’s bait of promising them investments, technologies and a bright future,” he said, adding that the Western powers “have already used this approach many times in the post-Soviet space. And we all know and see very well what came of it.”
Russia’s Deputy Prime Minister Alexei Overchuk warned, in June, that if Yerevan continued its overtures toward the West or sought membership in the EU, Armenia would lose its privileges afforded by membership in the EEU, including tariff-free access to the Russian market.
