Armenian Official Steps Up Criticism Of Russia
RFE/RL Armenian Service
Russia was quick to reject the allegations, with Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova accusing Grigorian of “humiliating his own people” and questioning his sanity.
“Citizens of Armenia defended their territory, sacrificed their lives and considered that historically important,” Zakharova told a news briefing. “The ideology of Armenia as a state for many years was built precisely on these theses. They knew why they were going into battle, why they were sacrificing their well-being, dooming their wives and children to widowhood and orphanhood.”
Grigory Karasin, a senior member of Russia’s upper house of its parliament, called Grigorian’s comments “absolutely not true.”
Grigorian appeared to echo Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian’s May 22 claims that two member states of the Russian-led Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) helped Azerbaijan prepare for the 2020 war. Pashinian is believed to have to referred to Russia and Belarus. The Russian Foreign Ministry challenged him to name those countries before recalling Russia’s ambassador to Armenia for consultations.
Although the ambassador, Sergei Kopyrkin, returned to Yerevan on June 10, the rift between the two longtime allies continues to deepen. In recent weeks, senior Russian officials have warned Pashinian’s administration against drifting further to the West. They have said, in particular, that it risks ruining Russian-Armenian military ties and losing tariff-free access to the Russian market vital for the Armenian economy.
Grigorian defended what Pashinian and his political allies describe as a “diversification” of Armenia’s foreign and security policy. Ending its “total dependence” on Russia will “bring stability” to the region, he said.
Grigorian argued on Wednesday that Russia already accounts for less than 10 percent of the Armenia’s arms acquisitions because of its failure to honor Russian-Armenian defense contracts singed in 2021 and 2022. Ambassador Kopyrkin implied last December that Russian defense companies have not fulfilled most of their contractual obligations so far because of having to manufacture more weapons for the Russian military embroiled in the continuing war with Ukraine.
Grigorian claimed that the Russians are also reluctant to help Armenia rebuild and modernize its armed forces.
“I don’t want to name names but must say that a high-ranking official from Armenia was once told that if Russia supplies Armenia with arms and ammunition Armenia will toughen its positions,” said the pro-Western official. “That’s also why they don’t deliver [the weapons].