‘Alarming trend is growing’: expert on Armenia-Russia relations

Russian political scientist and expert at the Strategic Culture Foundation, Andrey Areshev, commented to Alpha News on the refusal of the Secretary of the Armenian Security Council, Armen Grigoryan, to attend the meeting of the Secretaries of the Security Council of the CIS countries in Moscow.

“Well, there is a real trend developing here, because we remember that some time ago neither Nikol Pashinyan nor Ararat Mirzoyan went to the meeting of CIS leaders and foreign ministers in Bishkek. So, in my opinion, the tendency for Armenia to alienate itself from any political and diplomatic contacts within the framework of post-Soviet integration structures is obvious.

What continuation can this tendency get? I would not like to make negative forecasts, but it seems to me that Armenia’s substantial membership in the Eurasian Economic Union may also be called into question over time. Without a formal exit, without any formal demonstrative steps. But, nevertheless, as it seems to me, there is a growing alarming trend to ignore post-Soviet integration associations,” Areshev said.

According to the expert, there will be a split between Armenia and various CIS structures, but within a certain framework.

“I believe we are going to follow that path. However, it does not seem to me that there will be complete disengagement. For the Western supervisors of the current Armenian authorities, in my opinion, it is important to preserve Armenia in the CSTO, in the Eurasian Economic Union, and in the CIS because of their purely pragmatic goals in relation to these formations so that Armenia, or the current authorities of Armenia—I constantly make this correction—can pursue a certain policy related to the loosening and disintegration of these structures, which, as you know, have both formal and informal interaction components. It seems to me that this course will be carried out one way or another, but the current plans of our former Western partners can be changed, and I do not exclude that there could be some unexpected turns,” Areshev said.