YEREVAN, March 6. /TASS/. The Armenian authorities' policy towards Russia and the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) reduces to nothing the country’s security system and in all likelihood will lead to a catastrophe, Artsvik Minasyan, the secretary of the Armenia parliamentary faction, led by second President Robert Kocharyan, has told a news briefing.
"This is simply a disgrace. Armenia's security has once again been brought to such an abnormal point where all sides can hit us at any moment. They are making an enemy out of our ally (Russia - TASS), thus reducing to nothing Armenia's external security system (policy towards the CSTO - TASS). They show that they have nothing to do with state governance, but they also have nothing to do with the security of the state," he stressed.
Minasyan believes that Armenia should find a way to make the existing security system more effective, instead of speaking to partners "in the language of ultimatums."
Recently, the Armenian authorities have repeatedly made critical statements about Russia. Yerevan has skipped some international meetings. In particular, the country's Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan was absent from the CSTO summit in Minsk. He said Armenia had suspended participation in this organization.
The Russian Foreign Ministry stated that the scope of Yerevan's participation in the CSTO events had dwindled, contrary to the interests of the friendly Armenian people. As Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov noted, Moscow hopes to hear a response from Yerevan regarding the fulfillment of obligations and participation in joint integration structures, including the CSTO. At the same time, he emphasized, the statements being heard from Yerevan about the fallacy of the initially taken course of rapprochement with Russia might lead to a significant revision of bilateral relations.