Expert: Brussels talks included hushed subject of Russian military withdrawal from Armenia

Armenian military expert Hayk Nagapetyan has said there were talks in Brussels about which nothing will be reported.

"At the moment, the West needs Armenia to break economic cooperation or, as they say, dependence on Russia," Nagapetyan said in an interview with Armenian media as he commented on EU's providing €270 million in aid for Armenia, Caliber.Az reports.

"In my opinion, these funds are primarily intended for this purpose. Militarily, the withdrawal of Russian border guards and the base at the moment may cause certain problems, but from the economic point of view there will be attempts to make Armenia sit, so to speak, on the financial needle of the European Union to gradually cut it off. I think the money is not enough to completely cut Armenia off from economic ties with Russia. They are giving this money so that our economic entities connected with Russia cut their ties," Nagapetyan noted.

Responding to questions about these processes, the pundit noted that Zakharova made a statement on the issue a few days ago. According to Nagapetyan, this economic cooperation is only one component, and nothing was said about the other component.

"The other component, in my opinion, is more related to the change in the security architecture, that is, the withdrawal of the Russian military presence from Armenia. The West is primarily interested in this, and the economic component is derivative. And in this case, the question arises: is Armen Grigoryan (Secretary of the Security Council of Armenia - ed.), who is there, an economic specialist? I am inclined to think that there were specific negotiations on this topic, and of course there will be no reports about it," Hayk Nagapetyan said.