ST. PETERSBURG, September 20. /TASS/. Certain political forces in Armenia are "as if deliberately" spreading misinformation that the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) has allegedly failed to protect the country, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said.
"As for the CSTO, it is as if certain political forces in Armenia are deliberately spreading disinformation that the alleged reason (for freezing participation in the organization - TASS) is that the CSTO has not protected Armenia and so on," she said at a briefing on the sidelines of the 4th Eurasian Women's Forum. "This is all untrue, because I think we have repeatedly told you in detail about Russia's efforts and the CSTO's efforts, shared our assessments of the decisions taken by the Armenian authorities," she pointed out.
According to the diplomat, the claims regularly heard from Yerevan "are simply absurd, because they do not correspond to the facts." "Be that as it may, under this pretext the Armenian leadership began to limit the political dialogue [with Russia]," she emphasized.
The spokeswoman also underscored that Western countries are constantly putting pressure on the current rhetoric of Armenian officials. "The West is trying to put pressure on Armenia's international policy, and Westerners are openly talking about it. We didn't invent this, these are direct quotes from Western countries that they should take Armenia somewhere else, re-subordinate it to their institutions, so to speak, include it somewhere, but at the same time cut off its opportunities for interaction," she pointed out. "This is a direct speech of Western politicians, officials, leaders of various countries and bloc associations. Unfortunately, it seems to be reflected in the political rhetoric of Yerevan," the diplomat said.
Zakharova emphasized that Russia in its relations with Armenia continues to advocate "for full-scale bilateral dialogue, for cooperation, for a return from manipulative rhetoric to real full-fledged interaction, including in the work of the CSTO."
Earlier, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan explained the freezing of Armenia's participation in the CSTO by the fact that the organization allegedly posed a threat to the country's sovereignty.