Pundit: Armenian blackmail pushes Moscow's patience to breaking point

Speaking to the Armenian media, Grigor Balasanyan, Associate Professor at the YSU Department of International Relations and Diplomacy, said that Armenia's withdrawal from the CSTO would lead to it leaving the EAEU.

"This is the first time that Russia is making a hard proposal to the Armenian leadership to make up its mind," the expert noted, per Caliber.Az.

"For a long time, Moscow has not responded to Armenian leaders' statements. But one gets the impression that the Armenian authorities suddenly wake up and decide one day to withdraw from the CSTO, the next day not to withdraw, and then declare that they will freeze their participation. But after the experts pointed out that there is no such thing as a freeze and that there can be no such thing as a freeze, this was immediately followed by a blatant blackmail, saying that we can withdraw from the structure," Balasanyan added.

"I think Moscow's patience has run out. And this is the reason for Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov's statement. He says that now it is up to Armenia to decide whether to stay in the CSTO or not. This is an unprecedented statement and unfortunately, it will not lead us to anything good. And if Armenia leaves the CSTO, it will be forced to leave the EAEU as well," he said.

According to Balasanyan, Lavrov also mentioned the EAEU.

"He said that Armenia is still staying there because it finds it convenient. Generally speaking, international relations imply that if you're going to participate in the security system, you should be fully involved in it. It should be understood that both the CSTO and the EAEU belong to the unified security system. So if you leave the CSTO, you have to leave the EAEU," the associate professor stressed.

"In other words, the infrastructures that the CSTO has here, including the unified air defence system, will also have to leave. All this is very dangerous, because neither India, nor France, nor any other country will be able to provide such a volume for Armenia, and the economic consequences will be catastrophic. Our society needs to understand that this is about the future of the state, about Armenia's ability to develop as a state," Balasanyan said.