Drastic actions and about-turns toward the West can be explained only by the desire of the Armenian leadership to harm the state: International media on Armenia

Armenia’s efforts to integrate with Europe may end in disaster for Yerevan, The National Interest wrote. According to the publication, Pashinyan does not have a critical approach to the EAEU, unlike the CSTO, which he threatens to leave. At the same time, the Armenian leader has not said that he wants to replace the CSTO with NATO. All the same, the Kremlin no longer considers the EU and NATO as separate entities. “Since Pashinyan came to power with the color revolution in 2018, he has been talking about European integration while increasing economic cooperation and trade with Russia. Armenia, violating the sanctions imposed by the West, is the main re-exporter of Western products to Russia,” the magazine writes. According to the author of the publication, the Kremlin would like to replace Pashinyan with a pro-Russian regime. The Russian media outlets, which have a large audience in Armenia, support the protests led by Archbishop Bagrat Galstanyan demanding Pashinyan’s resignation and blame him for Armenia’s military defeats in 2020 and 2023.

Moskovskiy Komsomolets talked with political scientist Alexey Dzermant about the future of Armenia in the CSTO. According to Dzermant, if Armenia wants to deal with security issues, it is in need of its membership in the CSTO. Such drastic actions and about-turns toward the West can be explained only by the desire of the Armenian leadership to harm the state. “Now a political game of leadership is underway, and it can be very dangerous for the republic in such difficult times. No one can decide for Armenia whether to stay in the CSTO or leave. But thinking about the future, no one, except the CSTO and Russia, will be able to fully ensure the security of the Armenian population,” the political scientist said.