Armenia’s policy is becoming Euro-Atlantic and anti-Russian, political expert says

Russian political expert Igor Semenovsky commented to Alpha News on the crisis in Armenian-Russian relations as well as Moscow’s policy in the post-Soviet space.

“It should be noted that this crisis has now become visible to everyone. In fact, a crisis in our relations emerged about 3-4 years ago. After 2018, Russia became wary of the rhetoric and certain actions of the Armenian authorities, including the issues in interaction between Armenia and the CIS, between Armenia and the CSTO, and Armenia’s participation in bilateral projects with the Russian side.

But the latest actions, such as the statements that Russia is leaving Armenia, the CSTO is leaving Armenia, the latest publication in the Wall Street Journal, though taken out of context, the visit to the European Parliament, the speech together with von der Leyen at the briefing, and many more examples, indicate that the policy is becoming Euro-Atlantic and anti-Russian. And, surely, this does not benefit the Armenian people, who become hostages to the situation that the current leadership of the country has created,” Semenovsky said.

The expert also commented on how Russian society perceives the comments about Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan on the Russian TV show, which caused a negative reaction among the Armenian authorities.

“In fact, for the people, this is a trigger that the policy of this country is unfriendly for the Russian state, and that Russia will, accordingly, take measures that will oppose this unfriendly policy. Speaking about whether Pashinyan is similar to Saakashvili, well, here you can give many more examples, that he is ‘Armenian Navalny’ and so on. That is, these are all birds of a feather for the Russian audience. Unfortunately, Pashinyan is a person who is not responsible for the interests of his own people and acts in favor of those interests that brought him to power. And that method of coming to power was really obvious.

I do not know why the Russian authorities have not thought about it before or why Russia’s policy was based on some illusions or expectations not supported by real deeds.

What we are talking about here is that the authorities of Armenia are busy with various foreign, primarily American, foundations and with promoting their policies. This happens in other countries of the post-Soviet space, from Moldova to Russia’s friendly partners in the CSTO and the EAEU,” he noted.

During his interview, Semenovsky also spoke about the priorities of Russian foreign policy, including approaches to the post-Soviet space in general and the South in particular. He also touched upon Moscow’s position on the development of associations in the Eurasian space with Russia’s participation: the EAEU, the CSTO, and the SCO.