Moscow has made no attempts to drag Yerevan into the conflict, Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan has said
Russia has never attempted to pressure Armenia into joining the Ukraine conflict, Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan has said. Both countries are members of a defense pact signed in the early 1990s.
During an interview with Finnish outlet Lannen Media published on Monday, Mirzoyan was asked whether Armenia could be pressured by Russia to take part in the conflict.
“To be honest, we have never been suggested, pressured, or expected to participate in any form in the war in Ukraine. There has been no attempt,” Mirzoyan replied.
Unlike many Western countries, Armenia has refused to impose sanctions on Russia and declined to provide military aid to Ukraine.
Mirzoyan noted that Yerevan has suspended its participation in the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), but did not formally withdraw from the pact. He argued that the small landlocked country “never got any real support” from its allies when its internationally recognized borders were “violated” by neighboring Azerbaijan.
Armenia’s EU-friendly prime minister, Nikol Pashinyan, announced the freezing of participation in the CSTO earlier this year. Last week, Pashinyan told parliament that existing disagreements were making it “increasingly difficult” for Armenia to remain in the treaty.
In September 2023, Azerbaijan fully recaptured its breakaway region of Karabakh, forcing its ethnic Armenian population – over 100,000 people – to flee to Armenia.
Armenia and Azerbaijan also have a border dispute, with Yerevan accusing Baku of illegally occupying around 30 villages.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said last month that the Karabakh conflict fell outside the CSTO mandate since Armenia never formally recognized Karabakh’s independence and “definitely had not included it in its sovereign territory.”
“I believe that the current situation regarding Armenia and CSTO is dictated by its domestic politics,” Putin said. He stressed that it is ultimately up to Yerevan to decide on its membership in the organization.
