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    Categories: 2018

Senior Russian MP lambastes Armenia’s decision to take part in NATO drills

TASS, Russia
 Thursday 1:59 PM GMT


Senior Russian MP lambastes Armenia’s decision to take part in NATO drills

MOSCOW August 2

Head of the State Duma (lower house of parliament) Commission for
legal support to the development of the Russian military-industrial
complex Vladimir Gutenev has said that Armenia’s participation in the
Noble Partner exercise of the NATO members and the alliance’s partners
raises numerous questions.



MOSCOW, August 2. /TASS/. Head of the State Duma (lower house of
parliament) Commission for legal support to the development of the
Russian military-industrial complex Vladimir Gutenev has said that
Armenia’s participation in the Noble Partner exercise of the NATO
members and the alliance’s partners raises numerous questions.

He recalled that the Noble Partner 2018 drills kicked off at Vaziani
military base located in Georgia. More than 3,000 military servicemen
from 13 NATO’s member-states and partners, including Armenia,
Azerbaijan and Turkey, are expected to take part in them.

"The North Atlantic Alliance’s desire to allure Russia’s strategic
partners in its ranks has long ceased to be a secret. We can see,
however, that Serbia, which receives aid from us within the framework
of military-technical cooperation, despite being surrounded by NATO
countries, pursues a more balanced policy than Russia’s neighbors,
which are dependent in terms of ensuring their national sovereignty.
In light of that, it is strange to see Armenia, a CSTO member, taking
part in the exercises of the military-political alliance whose members
not only make aggressive statements about Russia but also expand the
area of their military presence," Gutenev told TASS on Thursday.

He noted that "the countries closely cooperate in the security area."
According to the lawmaker, "Russia provides assistance and
preferential supplies as part of military-technical cooperation and,
as a guarantor of peace in the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict,
sometimes suffers economic losses."

"We have already seen people with pro-Russian rhetoric coming to power
in a number of countries, including Ukraine. However, they later
changed their countries’ foreign policy vector, which sparked military
coups. At the same time, we continue to believe that [Armenian Prime
Minister] Nikol Pashinyan is a pragmatic politician who has a balanced
approach to interstate cooperation issues," Gutenev added.

Nevertheless, it is necessary to evaluate specific steps by that
country’s leadership while making important strategic decisions,
including on assistance and military-technical cooperation, the
lawmaker noted. "This assessment should be based not so much on
assurances of friendship. It should be linked to the stance on
cooperation with our strategic adversaries, while voting in the UN,
the OPCW and other international organizations," he stressed.

Hovsep Chakrian: