Former Ambassador of Armenia In Russia: There'll Be Ultimatum For Pashinyan

Yerevan will leave the CSTO eventually.

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan refused to go to the so-called inauguration of Putin, he will also not stay for the Victory Parade. Today, the head of the Armenian government went to Moscow for the EAEU summit. Russian media write that there he will meet with Putin and they will have a difficult conversation.

What is the background of this trip? Charter97.org addressed these questions to Stepan Grigoryan, one of the leaders of the democratic movement in Armenia in the 1990s, a former deputy of the Supreme Council of the Republic and former Ambassador of Armenia to Russia:

— I think it's good that Pashinyan did not go to the inauguration. It would be strange that a country that is on the path to democracy congratulated Putin on his victory in the so-called elections. His presence at the Victory Day Parade is also completely inappropriate.

Armenia is currently chairing the Eurasian Economic Union, so Pashinyan is going to this summit. My opinion is that he should not attend it either — there is no place for us there. What for? But the government decided that today, on May 8, Pashinyan will speak at the summit in honour of the 10th anniversary of the EAEU.

Immediately after that, there will be a meeting with Putin. Well, what can we expect from it? Putin has such an assistant Ushakov, who recently told what issues will be the main ones. One of them will concern Armenia's cooperation with NATO, there will be questions on integration processes with the European Union. As Ushakov put it, all these issues will be clarified. Putin will demand that Pashinyan refuses to cooperate with NATO and the EU. This was said directly, not my interpretation of Ushakov's words.

The agenda will also include the issue of our participation in the CSTO, where Armenia has already stopped paying contributions, but last year we froze our participation in all activities of this organization without exception. And Ushakov said that Putin would discuss this point as well. Russia will continue to press on the CSTO issue. Nikol Pashinyan will get an ultimatum: you are either here or there. That's my view of Ushakov's statements.

As for the Armenian side, ours do not say what exactly will be discussed. There are statements that there are many problems and issues related to Armenian-Russian relations, and they will be discussed. As I understand it, Pashinyan is going with the hope that Russia will soften its pro-Azerbaijani policy a little, revise the accents. It is clear that he will not get such a result, he will go there to no avail. But the person wants to go — let him go, we'll see.

— Pashinyan spoke before the trip about the possible closure of Russian TV channels that violate the legislation of Armenia. What other practical steps can Yerevan take to break with Russia?

— I believe that the delay in leaving the CSTO is a serious mistake. We do not have a day when one of the officials does not criticize the Collective Security Treaty Organization. Well, what is it when you constantly criticize the organization, but at the same time you stay in it? This is a huge mistake.

The same is true in the case of television — their behavior towards Armenia, the Armenian people and the authorities of the country is literally humiliating for us. They make different programs dedicated to Armenia and the situation in the Caucasus, where we are insulted. And this is not once, not five times, not even twenty-five times.

Yes, Nikol Pashinyan says that if there is another case, then we will close you, but somehow people already stopped believing that he will take concrete steps. These statements go on all the time, but no concrete steps are taken. Therefore, he spoke and said that we would definitely close the Russian channels, but I did not get the impression that this was taken seriously in society.

There is the same story with the CSTO — daily criticism, every day in a variety of forms, either the chairman of the parliament, Nikol Pashinyan, or the Foreign Minister criticizing the organization. But we are not leaving the CSTO. There are fears in society that this is just talk. I believe that eventually, ours will leave the CSTO and close Russian television.

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