Pashinyan himself led Armenia to losing its CSTO voting rights: Vasily Dandykin

Vasily Dandykin, a military expert and Captain 1st Rank in the reserve, spoke to Alpha News about the decision to strip Armenia of its voting rights in the CSTO, assessed the possible consequences for Yerevan’s relations with Moscow and gave his view on the prospects for the country’s participation in the EAEU.

“I think stripping Armenia of its voting rights is, above all, a signal to Yerevan. If a state ignores the CSTO’s rules, the other members of the organization can vote to strip it of its voting rights. In principle, Pashinyan himself was leading up to this, repeatedly saying that he did not need it. At the same time, our military base in Gyumri is located in Armenia. It is a serious facility with all the necessary infrastructure: it has aircraft and air defense systems. In addition, quite a few people of Armenian origin with Russian passports live in Armenia. In my view, Pashinyan’s behavior toward the CSTO and Russia can hardly be called reasonable. And this raises the question: will other consequences follow? Vladimir Vladimirovich [Putin] has already said that being in two organizations at once may be inappropriate. If Armenia holds a referendum and really does move toward the EU, it may have to choose — either one path or the other,” Dandykin said.

According to the expert, a similar situation once developed in Ukraine, and we can all see how that ended.

“A similar situation once developed in Ukraine: they also tried to have it both ways there. We can see how that ended. But I think this is, first and foremost, a matter for the Armenians themselves. They chose their leader themselves and now have to assess the consequences of his decisions. As for the EAEU, I believe this situation will not affect the organization for now. I see that the members build their relations with Russia in different ways, but on the whole they understand that they need to stay on good terms with it, despite the existing problems. However, there is a lesson to be learned from what is happening: this is not the way to act. Relations between Russia and Armenia go back many years. To a large extent, Armenia survived and developed thanks to Russia’s support. Russia stood by it even before the revolution and continued to do so afterward,” Dandykin concluded.