MOSCOW, March 13. /TASS/. Moscow is alarmed by the Armenian leadership's ultimatum-like and insulting rhetoric towards the CSTO, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova has told a news briefing while commenting on Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan's statements on the possibility of Armenia's pullout from the CSTO.
"We have never questioned, we do not question and will never question the sovereign right of any state to determine its foreign policy, including the degree of participation in the work of certain international and regional organizations in conformity with its national interests and assumed obligations. This fully applies to the CSTO as well. At the same time, we cannot but be alarmed by the counterproductive, ultimatum-like and sometimes insulting rhetoric, which prevails today in the Armenian leadership’s statements regarding CSTO activities and is being literally dictated to Armenian society," Zakharova said.
She slammed as inadmissible the "demeaning attitude to the work of a colossal number of people" in the CSTO, the results of which "have been obvious to everyone for a long period of time."
"Frankly speaking, it is perplexing that a certain part of Armenian elites systematically tries to discuss CSTO efficiency issues outside the organization, while all mechanisms, procedures and ways for that are in place. There are established channels of interaction," she stressed. "But Yerevan prefers to literally avoid a substantive dialogue by experts on the CSTO platform. At the same time, the organization itself is open to and ready for such work. By the way, it is able to conduct it in a mutually respectful and very effective manner."
Futile course
In the context of Yerevan's claims addressed to the CSTO Zakharova recalled that many of the risks Armenia was facing today could have been mitigated if the country's leadership had agreed to host a CSTO monitoring mission.
"Instead of implementing measures of assistance through the organization, the Armenian leadership preferred other methods. Then they started insulting and humiliating their partners in a manner not typical for Armenian society. Then they decided to invite a mission of the European Union, which is not so much defending Armenia's borders as collecting intelligence against neighboring countries under the cover of monitoring. Their aim is not only Russia, but also Azerbaijan and Iran," Zakharova said.
Moscow is well aware of the degree of pressure on Armenian partners the Western countries exert "in an effort to shake loose the region and use it as a stronghold" against Russia, Zakharova said. "However, Yerevan's current course - if it is continued - may eventually cause irreparable damage to our allied relations, create serious risks for the republic's sovereignty, hopelessly ruin the existing effective mechanisms of ensuring the country's security, and affect the prospects for its steady socio-economic development," Zakharova warned.
"As we have repeatedly emphasized, we are ready for a trust-building and normal dialogue of mutual respect with Yerevan on a wide range of issues that have come to a head, including cooperation within the CSTO," she concluded.
Earlier, Pashinyan said that Yerevan would leave the CSTO, if the organization failed to fulfill its obligations and recognize its zone of responsibility.