Russian MFA believes "baseless" Western promises to Yerevan put strain on relations

Russian-Armenian relations are experiencing a challenging period due to actions by the West, which is putting pressure on Yerevan and inciting it to sever ties with Moscow.

This statement was given by the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs in response to questions by the media posed ahead of a press conference by Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, who just recently welcomed his Armenian counterpart Ararat Mirzoyan in Moscow.

"Russian-Armenian relations are experiencing a difficult phase. This is largely the result of actions by the West, which, over the past year, has increased its pressure on Armenia, encouraging it to break its traditional ties with Russia and imposing value orientations to the Armenian people that are foreign to them. Baseless promises, given by the US and EU to replace Russia's role for Armenia, have, unfortunately, often been met sympathetically within the Republic. Even though the CSTO is the cornerstone of Armenia's security, and membership in the EAEU is the key to its economic well-being," the ministry stressed. 

The Russian MFA emphasized that Moscow has repeatedly conveyed to its Armenian friends that neither Washington nor Brussels genuinely consider the fate and interests of their partners. "The West is accustomed to treating [its allies] purely instrumentally. It is impossible that Yerevan failed to notice the developments in Georgia at the end of last year," the ministry added.

"Moscow has always valued brotherly relations with Yerevan and will continue to do so. We regard Armenia as one of our natural strategic partners and allies. We remain committed to the entire range of agreements with Armenia in the trade-economic and military-political spheres, formalized both bilaterally and within the framework of common integrative organizations," the diplomatic agency pointed out.

By Nazrin Sadigova