Moscow vows to severely punish its beloved "enfant terrible" Yerevan playing with fire

Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, following his scandalous interview with Italian newspaper La Repubblica, in which he blamed Russia for all of Armenia's failures, made another insulting attack on Moscow. Thus, Yerevan recalled Viktor Biyagov from the post of permanent and plenipotentiary representative in the CSTO, which was surely an unpleasant surprise for Moscow. Such a drastic move by the Armenian prime minister considered reckless in Armenia itself, is quite in line with his recent provocative statements about Russia's position and actions.

Moscow notices all the intrigues of the Armenian side and, if it directly affects Russian interests, immediately reacts adequately to them. The unfavourable statements of Armenian Prime Minister Pashinyan and Speaker of the National Assembly Simonyan, who suddenly became bolder, are quite similar. That is why Moscow felt it necessary to harshly rebuke the leaders of the "country of stones", taking them down the peg. It is clear that the sarcastic statements of the Armenian politicians outraged the Kremlin. The sharp rhetoric of the official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry Maria Zakharova at the weekly briefing speaks volumes. She, in particular, reiterated Russia's proposal to station a CSTO mission on the border area between Armenia and Azerbaijan, at the same time accusing the EU mission operating in Armenia of ineffectiveness.

"We sympathise with the death of Armenian servicemen in the village of Sotk and call on the sides to refrain from actions that lead to escalation of tension and even more human casualties. This tragic incident once again confirmed the low efficiency of the European Union mission stationed in Armenia," Zakharova said, adding that "the ball is on Armenia's side" in the issue of deploying the CSTO mission in the border region.

But the Armenian side keeps ignoring the Russian initiative, showing no interest in it. However, Moscow is apparently fed up with this state of affairs. And now Zakharova is accusing Pashinyan of irresponsibility: "One should be able to take responsibility for one's own actions, not look for guilty parties and do it endlessly on every occasion. This is the difference between a politician, a statesman, and a person passing by and not thinking about the national interests of his country. Otherwise, it resembles a story about a bad dancer".

And further, scornfully, the Russian diplomat also teases Armenian Parliament Speaker Alen Simonyan.

"This public rhetoric on the verge of, you know, something already resembling boorishness, it does nothing for Armenia's political figures," Zakharova said, commenting on Simonyan's argument that "according to the agreements of November 9, 2020, the Lachin corridor should be under the jurisdiction of Russian peacekeepers."

Moscow also does not like the fact that Pashinyan is publicly complaining to Europeans that Russia did not help Armenia in its war with Azerbaijan. "Armenia's security architecture was 99.999 per cent linked to Russia, including in the acquisition of weapons and ammunition. But today, when Russia itself needs weapons and ammunition, it is clear that even if it had wanted to, it would not have been able to meet Armenia's security needs," Pashinyan caustically remarked in his Italian interview and then complained in the style of an ancient Greek tragedy that Armenia had "tasted the bitter fruits" of this mistake and was only now trying to "diversify" its security strategy.

In other words, the Armenian leadership is convinced that it was precisely because of Russia's indifference during the war in the autumn of 2020 that Azerbaijan managed to win and regain its lands, which means that Armenia's "entire security architecture" is at risk.

Perhaps Moscow's greatest irritation, however, came from Pashinyan's provocative taunts that Russia was withdrawing from the South Caucasus.

"In fact, Russia has been in our region, in the South Caucasus, for quite a long time. The same scenario may happen again, that one day we will just wake up and see that Russia is not here," the Armenian prime minister said.

This is when Moscow exploded with anger. Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov firmly told journalists that "Russia is an absolutely integral part of this region, so it can't go anywhere". Moreover, he stressed that "Russia cannot leave Armenia" and recommended the Armenian leadership not forget "that there are more Armenians living in Russia than in Armenia itself".

That is, judging by the rather threatening signals from Moscow, Russia intends to use its levers of pressure on Yerevan, which it has not lost, to deploy a CSTO mission in the border region, no matter what obstacles the Armenians put in its way. For Russia, this is a matter of principle, in fact, an indicator that Armenia is its outpost in the South Caucasus, and not the West or anyone else.

Russia has warned Armenia that the security of the country itself and the largest Armenian diaspora in Russia depends on it, not the West. Moreover, the Kremlin has such a weighty argument as Yerevan's recognition of Karabakh as an integral part of Azerbaijan.

Alexei Nezhivoy, head of the Laboratory of Political and Social Technologies of the Russian Federation, expressed his opinion on Yerevan's hostile and quite dangerous outbursts towards Moscow in a conversation with Caliber.Az.

"Armenia's leadership is now in the grip of a historical deadlock. The conflict with Azerbaijan and internal economic and internal political turmoil do not allow for building stable foreign and internal political courses. There is an external enemy, but the recent war has demonstrated that it is beyond the country's reach. Domestic economic problems are unsolvable due to the global crisis and lack of understanding of how and where to move. The latter is a consequence of the fact that there are no forces in the Armenian elite that can propose a course of development based on internal resources and adequate assessment of external conditions. Hence, here are the attempts to lean on an external friend. Russia does not want to go to war with Azerbaijan for the sake of Armenia, and everyone understands why, even if there was no alliance between Ankara and Baku. Geopolitically, Azerbaijan is the basis of stability in the South Caucasus, and the country's leadership is more than adequate, and positive cooperation has long been established with it. The example of Ukraine shows that attempts to lean on the West are turning into a battlefield. The West does not care about Armenia yet, but it is necessary to warn the people of this country about the situation when they will be caught on the street and sent into a meat grinder, and the battle will be fought with weapons, after which those who survive will still die of cancer," the expert warns.