Pashinyan urged Zakharova not to comment on his words

Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan said that the representative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia should not comment on his words, but can only take them into account. This is how he reacted to the statements of the representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, who commented on the statements of the head of the Armenian government about the membership of this country in the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO).

At a briefing on Wednesday, Zakharova commented on Pashinyan’s latest statement regarding the possible withdrawal of Armenia from the CSTO if this organization, where Russia plays an important role, shows its ineffectiveness.

“If this is a figure of speech in order to lobby for the position of Armenia’s exit from the CSTO, then it seems to me that one should still understand the danger of manipulating words,” Zakharova said.

Pashinyan, according to the “Armenpress” agency, answered the questions of deputies in the parliament, one of which concerned the statement of the representative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia. The Prime Minister replied that he did not know which of the representatives of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs made such a statement, noting: “My interlocutors in the Russian Federation are the president and the chairman of the government of the Russian Federation. Even the representative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of such a respected and friendly state as Russia cannot comment on what am I saying”.

Pashinyan previously repeatedly criticized the CSTO, in particular, claiming that the organization did not take a sufficiently clear position in the conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan. At the same time, he did not directly say that Yerevan intends to leave the organization.

In Russia, in turn, a number of pro-power commentators criticize Pashinyan, accusing him of a pro-Western position. Officially, such accusations are not heard.

In the evening on Wednesday, Pashinyan went to Moscow, where he will take part in the next meeting of the Eurasian Economic Council. A tripartite meeting of Pashinyan with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev is also planned.