MOSCOW, September 4. /TASS/. Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan's statements about Russia in an interview with Italian media are unacceptable in tone and Moscow is extremely dissatisfied with them, a diplomatic source has told TASS.

"Moscow is extremely dissatisfied with the latest public statements by the Armenian leadership, including the Armenian prime minister's statements in an interview with the Italian newspaper La Repubblica and the Armenian Foreign Ministry's commentary released on August 31. Both are regarded as unacceptable both in tone and content. Their aim is to shift responsibility for one’s own miscalculations and mistakes onto Russia," the source said.

For instance, earlier Pashinyan mentioned the possibility of Russia's estrangement from the region. "In fact, they (Western countries – TASS) are trying to artificially push Russia out of the South Caucasus and are using Yerevan as a means to achieve this goal. Russia, as Armenia's closest neighbor and friend, has no intention of leaving the region. However, it should be a two-way street: Armenia should not become the West’s instrument to push Russia out," the source said.

He added that Russia views its relations with Armenia in the security and economic spheres "not as one country’s dependence on another, but as an equal, mutually beneficial and time-tested partnership."

That said, he noted that the fall 2020 armed standoff in many ways was the result of thoughtless and provocative steps by the Armenian leadership. "This significantly devalued the agreements reached by the sides along the line of the OSCE Minsk Group. Had it not been Russia's intervention and President Vladimir Putin personally, the outcome of military actions would have been even more lamentable," the diplomat pointed out.

He also branded the remarks about Russia’s purported indifference to Azerbaijan’s "aggression against the sovereign territory of the Republic of Armenia" as baseless. The diplomat reiterated that relevant consultations had taken place along the tracks of the foreign and defense ministries of the two countries and high-ranking representatives from the CSTO had visited the region.