Russian pundit: Pashinyan pursuing line on Armenia's withdrawal from CSTO

Vladimir Shapovalov, associate professor of the Moscow State Institute of International Relations, has said that the Armenian prime minister continues to pursue his line on withdrawal from the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO).

"Pashinyan continues his line, which he has been pursuing for many months, and the essence of it is the following: the first is the line of justifying himself and his supporters for the defeat in the Karabakh war," Shapovalov said commenting on Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan's statement that the country needs to diversify its security relations,  Caliber.Az reports, citing Armenian media.

"As you know, Pashinyan is completely groundlessly trying to accuse Russia and the CSTO. Russia fulfils all the commitments it has undertaken; moreover, it was Russian peacekeepers who ensured the cessation of the conflict in Karabakh. And everything that concerns the military and political defeat is on Pashinyan's conscience, not Russia's.

The second is the line of gradual weakening of relations with Russia and CSTO allies. The third is the Western-centric line, the line of European integration and gradual rapprochement with Western countries. We consider all these three steps simultaneously with Pashinyan's speech. We see a demarche on the part of the Armenian prime minister, who has not yet officially left the CSTO, but nevertheless makes such statements.

If we take the South Caucasus, Western countries, primarily the United States, France and European structures, have not shown themselves as guarantors of security. On the contrary, their actions are aimed at destruction, provocations, strengthening their influence, not at protecting Armenia's interests.

The conclusion made by Pashinyan is absolutely inconsistent with the realities existing in the Caucasus and at the macro-regional level in general. We see that the CSTO is a reliable guarantor of stability, while the Western countries have in no way shown themselves as guarantors of security," the political analyst said.