“In exchange for preferential arms supplies and security guarantees, the West is seeking to get the Armenian government to withdraw from the CSTO, which would make Yerevan even more dependent on NATO in its future relations with Baku,” he said, according to Russian news agencies. “And given all the previous experience of NATO mediation in various regions of the world, the bloc’s entrenchment in the Transcaucasus will obviously not contribute to stability in the region.”
“By persuading Yerevan to drag out negotiations with Baku, the West is trying to spearhead the process of Azerbaijani-Armenian settlement and achieve the deployment of its own ‘peacekeeping’ contingent in the region -- de jure under the auspices of the UN but de facto a NATO one,” he told a meeting of the fellow heads of security services of ex-Soviet states held in Kazakhstan’s capital Astana.
In that regard, Bortnikov accused the European Union’s monitoring mission along Armenia’s border with Azerbaijan of “conducting intelligence activities against Russia and our partners in the interests of a specific NATO country.” This testifies to the “possible character of such peacekeeping” eyed by the West, he said.
The EU shrugged off Bortnikov’s claims that highlight not only Russia’s standoff with the West but also its heightened tensions with Armenia, its traditional ally.
“These comments are full of nonsense and the usual lies and manipulations typical for the Russian regime that tries to cover its repeated failures to deliver on its promises and commitments to Armenia,” Peter Stano, the EU foreign policy spokesman, told the Armenpress news agency.
Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian announced early this year the effective suspension of Armenia’s membership in the CSTO and pledged to eventually pull his country out of the Russian-led military alliance accused by Yerevan of not defending it against Azerbaijani attacks.
Pashinian declared last month that the CSTO poses an existential threat to his country. The Russian Foreign Ministry called the claim “illogical,” arguing that Pashinian is still careful not to formally leave the alliance.