Grigor Balasanyan: Lavrov’s statement is unprecedented, all this will do no good for us

It seems to me that the latest events were the last straw for official Moscow, Grigor Balasanyan, Associate Professor of the YSU Department of International Relations and Diplomacy, told Alpha News.

“This was the first time when Russia urged the Armenian leadership to make a clear choice. For a long time, official Moscow did not respond to the Armenian leadership’s statements, but it seemed that one day the Armenian leadership decided that it would quit the CSTO, another day they would not, and then they eventually said they would freeze their participation. But when the experts noted that there is no such thing as freezing and that this is not possible, there was already open blackmail that Armenia would quit. It seems to me that this was the last straw for official Moscow, hence Lavrov’s statements. He says that now Russia will urge Armenia to decide whether to remain in the CSTO or not. This is an unprecedented statement, and unfortunately, all this will do no good for us,” Balasanyan said.

The expert emphasized that in case of quitting the CSTO, Armenia will have to quit the EAEU as well.

“Lavrov also spoke about the EAEU. He said that Armenia is still staying there because it thinks it is beneficial. Usually, there is a format in international relations: if you are in the security system, then you must be fully in it. We should understand that both the CSTO and EAEU organizations are part of the unified security system. It turns out that if you quit the CSTO, you should also quit the EAEU.

In other words, the infrastructure that the CSTO has here, including the unified air defense system, must also withdraw. All of that is very dangerous because neither India, nor France, nor any other country can provide that volume to Armenia, and the economic consequences will be disastrous. Our society should understand that the problem concerns the future of our state and the development opportunities of Armenia as a state,” Balasanyan concluded.