Tensions between Yerevan and Moscow continued to escalate as the Kremlin on Tuesday reacted to remarks by Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan who told an Italian publication that Armenia’s heavy reliance on Russia has proven to be a “strategic mistake.”
The Kremlin’s spokesperson Dmitry Peskov hit back at Pashinyan’s assertions, saying Russia has no intention of leaving the South Caucasus as the Armenian leader claimed in his interview with the Italian publication La Repubblica daily that was publicized by his press office over the weekend.
“Russia is an absolutely integral part of this region, so it cannot go anywhere. Russia cannot leave Armenia,” Peskov told reporters on Tuesday, adding that Russia will continue to its role as the“security guarantor” in the South Caucasus region.
In the interview with the Italian daily, Pashinyan said that his government is trying to “diversify” Armenia’s security policy.
“Armenia’s security mechanism, including the process of weapons and ammunition acquisition, has been connected to Russia by 99.999 percent,” he said.
“But now that Russia itself needs weapons and munitions [as a result of the Ukraine war] it is obvious that in this situation the Russian Federation could not provide for Armenia’s security needs even if it wanted to,” Pashinyan insisted.
“The Russian Federation has been in our region, the South Caucasus, for quite a long time. But we have seen situations when the Russian Federation simply left the South Caucasus in one day, one month or one year,” Pashinyan claimed.
“There are processes that, of course, lead one to think that the same scenario could be repeated and that one day we will simply wake up and see that Russia is not here,” added Pashinyan.
Peskov went on to also emphasize Yerevan’s close economic ties with Moscow, which have resulted in economic growth for Armenia.
“There are more Armenians living in Russia than in Armenia itself, and most of them are exemplary, patriotic citizens of the Russian Federation who make a significant contribution to the development of our country,” Peskov added on Tuesday.
Moscow deployed a long-used tactic of an unnamed Russian official being quoted by the government-run Tass news agency calling Pashinyan’s comments “unacceptable.”
The Russian official highlighted the growing tensions between Yerevan and Moscow, warning Yerevan against helping the West “squeeze Russia out” of the region.
“In fact, they are trying to artificially squeeze Russia out of the South Caucasus, using Yerevan as a means of achieving this goal,” the unnamed Russian official told Tass.
“As Armenia’s closest neighbor and friend, Russia, does not intend to leave the region. However, this should be a two-way street: Armenia should also not become a weapon for the West to squeeze out Russia,” the Russian official further warned.
In his interview, Pashinyan also criticized the Russian peacekeeping forces for their failure to reopen the Lachin corridor, saying that now almost nine-month-long blockade signaled that the peacekeeping contingent is “not fulfilling their mission” defined by the November 9, 2020 agreement.
The Russian official cited by Tass rejected Pashinyan’s “baseless attacks” on the peacekeepers, saying that the Armenian leaders’ controversial recognition of Azerbaijani sovereignty over Artsakh “made the work of the Russian peacekeeping contingent as difficult as possible.”
Official Moscow has used that line of thinking since Pashinyan declared his government’s willingness to recognize Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity, which includes Artsakh. A similar recognition has not been offered by official Baku despite announcements that the leaders of both countries had agreed to recognize each other’s sovereignty.
The Russian foreign ministry on Thursday went a step further and blamed Pashinyan for the blockade, with its spokesperson Maria Zakharova saying that the Armenian leader’s remarks had led to the Artsakh blockade and the resulting humanitarian crisis.
Armenia’s foreign ministry hit back by citing several of Yerevan’s grievances against Moscow, including the fact that President Vladimir Putin of Russia himself had recognized Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity when he signed an broad partnership agreement with his Azerbaijani counterpart Ilham Aliyev ahead of the Ukraine war.
After the Kremlin’s rebuttal, which could be deemed as restrained, Zakharova, the Russian foreign ministry spokesperson, offered a more scathing retort to Pashinyan’s remarks about Moscow.
“One should have the ability to answer for their own actions, rather than blame others and do so endlessly, at every turn,” Zakharova told a news briefing in Moscow on Tuesday.
“You need to take responsibility for yourself and not shift that blame onto someone else,” Zakharova said. “This is what makes a politician, a statesman different from a random person who does not think about the interests of his country.”
In same news briefing, Zakharova also said that Moscow has asked for “clarification” from the Armenian government, which submitted the founding treaty for the International Criminal Court for parliament ratification two days after the Russian spokesperson blamed Pashinyan for the blockade.
Russia, which has not signed the treaty, on numerous occasions has warned Yerevan against ratifying the treaty, saying that such a move could adversely and seriously impact relations between Armenia and Russia.
Earlier this year the ICC issued an arrest warrant for Putin. This means any country that has ratified the document and has become a member of the court is obliged to arrest the Russian leader if he steps foot on their soil.
“We will decide on our next steps based on the content of Yerevan’s response,” the ministry spokeswoman, Zakharova, told reporters.