The ministry spokeswoman, Maria Zakharova, argued that Pashinian is still careful not to formally pull his country out of the Russian-led military alliance.
“It seems to me that they [the statements made by Pashinian] contradict common sense and reality,” Zakharova told journalists in Saint Petersburg. “Because if something ‘threatens’ you, especially national security, then what is the point of saying that they [Armenia] are still there [in the CSTO?] If they are staying on, it means that they see some expediency in this.”
“The people delegate power to statesmen so that they behave responsibly and make statements based on the will of the people and the interests of the country,” she said, according to the TASS news agency.
Speaking at a conference in Yerevan on Wednesday, Pashinian again accused the CSTO of not honoring its commitments to Armenia locked in the conflict with Azerbaijan. He said he froze Armenia’s membership in the alliance early this year also because it “creates threats to Armenia’s security and Armenia’s continued existence, sovereignty and statehood.”
Pashinian went on to declare that Yerevan’s relationship with its ex-Soviet allies is therefore likely to reach the “point of no return.” But he again did not specify just when Armenia could leave the CSTO altogether.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov was quick to reject the accusations. He said at the same time that Armenia remains a “close partner” of Russia and that the latter will continue to “patiently” do business with the South Caucasus country’s leadership.