As CSTO member, Russia should determine its position regarding  Armenia - RA Security Council Sec.

ArmInfo.First of all, the Russian Federation itself should determine its position who it is with. RA Security  Council Secretary Armen Grigoryan told reporters on March 6, commenting on the statement of Foreign Minister of Russia Sergei Lavrov that Yerevan should determine its positionon the issue of the Collective Security Treaty Organization.

According to the Secretary of the RA Security Council, it is Moscow  that, being a CSTO member, should determine its position. "During the  negotiations with the Organization since May 2021, the Armenian side  has insisted on recognizing Armenia's borders with Azerbaijan.  Meanwhile, the CSTO refused to do so, without even condemning the  occupation of part of the country's territory. Against this  background, it would be good if Russia, and not Armenia as a member  of the CSTO, would determine its position in relation to our  country," the Secretary of the RA Security Council emphasized.

He added that at least until December 2021, Armenia linked 96% of its  security issues with the Russian Federation. Since that time,  Azerbaijan has carried out aggression against Armenia three times,  occupying part of the country's territory. "In this situation, the  question arises: is Armenia to blame for these attacks?  Definitely  not! The problem is that Armenia's allies did not support it and did  not help," the Security Council Secretary emphasized.

For this reason, he continued, Yerevan is diversifying its foreign  policy. Over the past few years, Armenia's acquisition of Russian  military equipment has decreased from 96% to 10%. "This means that  Yerevan is pursuing a policy of political, economic and military  diversification of the areas of ensuring the security of the state,  finding partners in various countries of the world, including India  and France," said the Secretary of the RA Security Council, adding  that, for example, in January 2024 alone, Armenia's trade turnover  with the United Arab Emirates reached 16% compared to 4% for the same  period last year. All this, Grigoryan continued, is an example of  diversification. "Armenia wants to have good relations with the West,  with its neighbors, including Turkey and Azerbaijan," the Security  Council Secretary emphasized.

He noted that today, during a meeting with members of the National  Assembly of the Republic of Armenia from the ruling "Civil Contract"  faction, the issue of economic security of Armenia was discussed,  which concerns all states with which Yerevan maintains relations. 

In the long-term perspective, Armenia should not have problems within  the Eurasian Economic Union. But as Grigoryan noted, it is quite  possible that they will come forward in this direction, and that is  why Yerevan is actively diversifying the areas of cooperation with  other countries. "With some it works, with others it doesn't, but the  work is going on," the Secretary of the RA Security Council stated.   Earlier in Antalya, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov stated  that the statements that the CSTO did not help Yerevan are groundless  and do not correspond to reality. He stated that Armenia should  determine its position in the CSTO. "Moscow is waiting for Yerevan's  response," said the head of the Russian Foreign Ministry, expressing  regret that Armenia has chosen the line of worsening relations with  Russia over Karabakh. "These are not truly allied relations ," Lavrov  emphasized, saying that Armenia is ruled by the same 'political  engineers' who rule the whole world from their apartments.