NATO's Caucasus envoy Javier Colomina during a meeting with Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan in Yerevan on Jan. 19
Russia on Wednesday warned Yerevan that its recent efforts to forge close relations with NATO and the West might not yield the desired results, saying history has shown that those seeking rapprochement with NATO risk losing their sovereignty and independence.
The Russian reaction was a direct response to NATO’s Caucasus representative Javeier Colomina, who in an interview with Armenpress’ Lilit Gasparyan said he was encouraged by Armenia’s decision to seek closer ties with the security alliance.
“We are very encouraged by the decisions that Armenia has decided to take in their foreign policy and defense policy, the shift they have decided to implement,” Colomina said, calling his trip to Yerevan on January 19 a success.
The NATO representative said Armenia’s decision to become closer with NATO “is difficult to implement and will probably take a long time, but, of course, we encourage our partners to get closer to us, and that is what Armenia is doing.”
Russian foreign ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said at a press briefing on Wednesday that Yerevan’s “rapprochement” with NATO can have troubling consequences for Armenia.
“We have already seen what a rapprochement with NATO has led to for many countries: involvement in conflicts, loss of sovereignty and independence, being forced to submit to the will of a foreign nation in all senses of the word and in all spheres, and most importantly, the lack of opportunity to realize one’s own national interests,” said Zakharova.
“Probably, here we should start from the basic realities, and assess what the national interests of each country, particularly of Armenia, are,” Zakharova added. “We should probably analyze that, we should probably open the map, we should look at which region and between which neighbors that country is located.”
Moscow’s unusually quick response to the NATO representative signals that the Russian government is more concerned about Yerevan’s westward tilt than it has suggested in public statements.
Zakharova underscored that NATO and the United States are not trustworthy allies and said historically those nations that have forged alliances with them have wound up on the losing side, because, she said, “I haven’t seen any examples in the last 30 to 40 years” of NATO or the U.S. fulfilling the promises they make to those allied nations.
In his interview with Armenpress, Colomina said that NATO considers Russia a threat, adding that Russia “already made a strategic mistake invading Ukraine. And they need to understand that NATO will be ready to defend every inch of our territory.”