In an interview with Italy's La Repubblica published today, September 3, Prime Minister Pashinyan said Russia had failed to guarantee Armenia's security in the face of what he said was aggression from neighboring Azerbaijan over the breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh, according to Reuters.
Mr Pashinyan said Russia, which has a defence treaty with Armenia, did not consider his country to be close enough to Russia. Mr Pashinyan added that he believed Russia was in the process of moving away from the wider South Caucasus region.
Yerevan is therefore trying to diversify its security arrangements, according to Prime Minister Pashinyan. This revelation is seen as an apparent reference to Armenia's relations with the European Union and the United States as well as Yerevan's efforts to forge closer ties with other countries in the region.
Russian President Vladimir Putin and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan during a meeting in Saint Petersburg (Russia) on December 27, 2022
"Armenia's security structure is 99.999% linked to Russia, including the purchase of weapons and ammunition. But today we see that Russia itself needs weapons and ammunition (for the conflict in Ukraine) and in this situation, it is understandable that even if it wanted to, the Russian Federation cannot meet Armenia's security needs," Pashinyan said in an interview with La Repubblica .
“This case shows us that depending on only one partner in security matters is a strategic mistake,” Pashinyan stressed.
There is no information yet about Russia's reaction to Mr. Pashinyan's interview.
Armenia and Azerbaijan have fought several wars over the past 35 years for control of Nagorno-Karabakh, which is internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan but is predominantly inhabited by ethnic Armenians.
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Russia sent a peacekeeping force of thousands to Nagorno-Karabakh in 2020 as part of a deal to end weeks of fighting that killed thousands and allowed Azerbaijan to make significant territorial gains.
However, Mr. Pashinyan accused Russian peacekeepers deployed to maintain the ceasefire agreement of failing to carry out their duties, according to Reuters.
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