Pundit describes booting Russia from Armenia as "painful process"

Political analyst Harutyun Mkrtchyan said in an interview with Armenian media that the Armenian leadership lacks the courage to withdraw from the CSTO.

"We have repeatedly noted that the CSTO creates serious security problems for Armenia in our region, despite the fact that Armenia is the founding state of this structure. The problem began the day the CSTO refused to give official recognition to Armenian sovereignty. Now we see that after the statement of Prime Minister Pashinyan, the demands from the North are getting more and more tough, and we can observe this in the context of Lavrov's statements," ne noted, according to Caliber.Az.

"I am sure that the political decision to withdraw from the CSTO has been made de jure, and this is a problem of political courage, which the government lacks. And if this government has the courage, I am sure that it will make a de jure decision as well.

Apart from that, I can simply say that the Armenian authorities have run out of room for manoeuvre. They put themselves in this situation when Pashinyan said that we have a de facto freeze on our CSTO membership and we will do it de jure. This was already a signal that Armenia would withdraw from the CSTO de jure. Only time will tell whether the government will have the political courage to take this step. But I am sure that politically the decision has already been taken.

Of course, there are threats, and we have often talked about threats. But who thought that the separation from Russia, the expulsion of Russia from our region would be a less painful process? The process will be painful, it will be full of consequences, but we must be prepared. And I still maintain that Russia has two batons with which it can beat us over the head. The first is our compatriots living in Russia, and the second is the imposition of economic sanctions. In the first case, we have repeatedly called on our compatriots in our public speeches that even if they don't come to Armenia, they should go to some third country and leave Russia. After all, it is clear that Russia has developed a policy of open hostility towards Armenia and an entire state cannot simply be attacked for the sake of a few hundred thousand workers who have left or our compatriots who have settled in Russia.

As for economic sanctions, yes, they will be painful. But if we want security, lasting peace, the rearmament of the army, and the deepening of relations with new allies like France, then we have to take this step. Yes, we will suffer economic losses, perhaps apricot exporters will not be able to export apricots, and perhaps the Russian side will decide to cut off the gas, but let us explain to the people the price behind it. I am sure that the overwhelming majority of Armenian citizens are ready to bear these hardships," the political analyst said.