Wednesday,
Moscow Seeks End To Armenia’s Spat With CSTO
RUSSIA - The Russian Foreign Ministry building is seen behind a social
advertisement billboard showing Z letters and reading "For the World without
Nazism," Moscow. October 13, 2022.
Russia hopes to end Armenia’s growing estrangement from the Collective Security
Treaty Organization (CSTO), according to a senior Russian diplomat.
The Armenian government has cancelled a CSTO military exercise planned in
Armenia and refused to appoint a deputy secretary-general of the Russian-led
military alliance over what it sees as a lack of support in the conflict with
Azerbaijan. Citing the same reason, it has also rejected other CSTO member
states’ offer to deploy a monitoring mission to the Armenian-Azerbaijani border.
The unprecedented tensions have called into question Armenia’s continued
membership in the organization. Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian claimed on March
16 that it is the CSTO that could “leave Armenia.” A Russian Foreign Ministry
spokeswoman laughed off that remark, saying that she has trouble understanding
its meaning.
“We expect that harmful discussions on the topic of ‘who leaves what’ will end
and that all issues of interaction with Yerevan within the CSTO framework,
including the deployment of the organization’s monitoring mission in Armenia,
will be solved in a constructive and mutually beneficial manner,” Russia’s
Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Galuzin told RTVI, a Russian-language
broadcaster.
“For our part, we reaffirm our readiness to implement plans to deploy a CSTO
mission on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border in the interests of ensuring
Armenia’s security as well as other assistance measures,” said Galuzin.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov also reaffirmed that offer when he met
with his Armenian counterpart Ararat Mirzoyan in Moscow on March 20. Lavrov
decried “undisguised attempts by Western countries to estrange Armenia from
Russia.”
Tensions between Moscow and Yerevan have deepened further since then. Last
Friday, Armenia’s Constitutional Court gave the green light for parliamentary
ratification of the International Criminal Court’s founding treaty. The ruling
came one week after the ICC issued an arrest warrant for Russian President
Vladimir Putin over war crimes allegedly committed by Russia in Ukraine.
Moscow warned on Monday that Yerevan’s recognition of The Hague tribunal’s
jurisdiction would have “extremely negative” consequences for Russian-Armenian
relations. The Armenian government has still not publicly reacted to the stern
warning.
Baku Slams Head Of EU Monitoring Mission In Armenia
• Astghik Bedevian
Armenia - European Union monitors patrol Armenia's border with Azerbaijan,
February 20, 2023.
Baku on Wednesday lambasted the head of European Union monitors deployed to
Armenia’s border with Azerbaijan for essentially not ruling out the possibility
of a fresh Azerbaijani military offensive there.
“Many Armenians believe there will be a spring offensive by Azerbaijan. If this
doesn't happen, our mission is already a success,” Markus Ritter, the German
head of the monitoring mission, told Germany’s Deutsche Welle broadcaster this
week.
“We cannot interfere, we only have binoculars and cameras at our disposal,” he
said.
The Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry strongly condemned Ritter’s remarks, saying
that they are based on “false and slanderous statements made by the Armenian
side.”
The Armenian government did not immediately comment. It has repeatedly claimed
in recent weeks that Baku is planning a “new military aggression” against
Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh.
The conflicting sides have reported this month more frequent ceasefire
violations on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border and the Karabakh “line of
contact.” An Armenian soldier was shot and killed by Azerbaijani troops on March
22.
The deployment in February of the 100 or so EU monitors was meant to reduce the
risk of a serious escalation in the conflict zone. Foreign Minister Ararat
Mirzoyan said last week that the Armenian government has no access to their
confidential reports sent to Brussels.
Azerbaijan as well as Russia have criticized the two-year EU mission requested
by Yerevan. Moscow said on February 21 that it is part of the West’s efforts to
squeeze it out of the South Caucasus.
Pashinian Again Invited To U.S. ‘Summit For Democracy’
Armenia - Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian participates in the second Summit for
Democracy, .
Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian is among 120 global leaders participating in the
second Summit for Democracy organized by U.S. President Joe Biden and denounced
by Russia.
The two-day virtual summit which began on Wednesday is designed to promote
democratic governance around the world in the face of rising authoritarianism.
Biden was due to pledge $690 million in U.S. government funding for democracy
programs around the world.
“Worldwide, we see autocrats violating human rights and suppressing fundamental
freedoms; corrupting -- and with corruption eating away at young people's faith
in their future; citizens questioning whether democracy can still deliver on the
issues that matter most to their lives,” The Associated Press quoted U.S.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken as saying at a pre-summit virtual event on
Tuesday.
Russia scoffed at the summit on Wednesday, with Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov
saying it "can hardly be classified as some kind of serious event." Washington
is still “aspiring to the role of global teacher of so-called democracy,” he
told reporters.
“As regards those who chose to take part in this lesson, it’s their sovereign
business,” Peskov said when asked about Armenia’s participation in the event.
Addressing the summit, Pashinian insisted that his government “continues to
implement a democratic reform agenda.”
“As a result of that, our country has improved its positions in various global
rankings,” he said.
Pashinian went on to mention the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and, in particular,
Azerbaijan’s offensive military operations launched along the Armenian border
last September.
ARMENIA - U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi accepts a bouquet of flowers from
Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian in Yerevan, September 18, 2022,
“It was back in September that we felt the union of democracies and the clear
condemnation of aggression against Armenia,” he said, referring to Western
powers. “I want to take this opportunity and extend our gratitude to the United
States and other partners that helped us stop the further incursion through
diplomatic engagement.”
Pashinian and other senior Armenian officials have repeatedly complained about
what they see as a lack of such support from Russia, Armenia’s main ally.
Relations between Moscow and Yerevan have significantly deteriorated in recent
months.
Pashinian also took part in the first Summit for Democracy held in December
2021. The U.S. invitations extended to him highlight Washington’s largely
positive assessments of his government’s human rights and democracy records.
Armenian opposition leaders have accused the U.S. as well as the European Union
of turning a blind eye to the Pashinian administration’s pressure on the
judiciary, the existence of “political prisoners” and other human rights abuses
in the South Caucasus country. In May last year, they lambasted the then U.S.
ambassador in Yerevan, Lynne Tracy, for seemingly touting the outcome of
Armenia’s 2021 general elections won by Pashinian’s party.
In an annual report released on Monday, Amnesty International accused the
Armenian authorities of using “excessive force” against opposition protesters
and “unduly” restricting the freedom of expression.
“Criminal prosecutions over the legitimate expression of criticism of the
authorities had a chilling effect on free speech,” said the global watchdog.
Azerbaijan Thanks Israel For Support During Karabakh War
Israel -- Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen and his Azerbaijani counterpart
Jeyhun Bayramov a joint press conference, .
Visiting Israel on Wednesday, Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov
thanked the Jewish state for supporting Azerbaijan during the 2020 war with
Armenia.
“We are grateful to Israel for supporting the position of Azerbaijan,”
Azerbaijani news agencies quoted Bayramov as saying after talks with his Israeli
counterpart Eli Cohen. He said that Jews were among Azerbaijani soldiers killed
during the six-week war in Nagorno-Karabakh.
Bayramov was due to inaugurate the Azerbaijani Embassy in Tel Aviv during his
visit.
Israel has long been one of Azerbaijan’s main suppliers of weapons and other
military hardware. Those supplies continued even after Azerbaijan launched a
full-scale offensive in and around Karabakh on September 27, 2020.
Armenia recalled its ambassador to Israel in protest on October 1, 2020.
According to the Armenian military, Azerbaijani forces heavily used Israeli-made
attack drones and multiple-launch rocket systems throughout the hostilities
stopped by a Russian-brokered ceasefire in November 2020.
Azerbaijani-Israeli military cooperation appears to have continued unabated
since then. Nevertheless, Armenia sent a new ambassador to Israel in April 2022.
Last month, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev met with then Israeli Defense
Minister Yoav Gallant on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference.
Israel’s Minister of Intelligence Gila Gamliel also underscored close security
ties between the two countries when she visited Baku earlier this month.
Gamliel’s visit came amid heightened tensions between Azerbaijan and Iran.
Iranian leaders have repeatedly warned Baku against advancing Israel’s
geopolitical interests in the region and trying to strip the Islamic Republic of
its border with Armenia.
Reposted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL
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