Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan attends a gathering of the Eurasian Intergovernmental Council of the Eurasian Financial Union (EAEU) nations in Almaty, Kazakhstan, February 2, 2024. Sputnik/Dmitry Astakhov/Pool by way of REUTERS/File Photograph
Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan mentioned in an interview printed on Sunday that his nation was not Russia’ ally in its conflict towards Ukraine, however confused its army cooperation tasks weren’t directed towards any single nation.
Pashinyan additionally mentioned he hoped that Armenia’s neighbor and longstanding rival, Azerbaijan, remained dedicated to the conclusion of a sturdy peace treaty regardless of statements by its president about demarcating borders.
Armenia and Azerbaijan fought two main wars previously 30 years over the disputed territory of Nagorno-Karabakh. The area has lengthy been acknowledged as a part of Azerbaijan and Azeri troops secured full management over it final September.
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Pashinyan has mentioned in latest months that Armenia might now not depend on Russia to make sure its protection wants as his nation had not secured the assistance it had wanted from Moscow.
In his remarks to Britain’s Day by day Telegraph, Pashinyan mentioned he had mentioned from the outset of Russia’s February 2022 invasion of Ukraine that it couldn’t stand alongside Moscow as an ally.
“I mentioned, within the Ukraine scenario, we aren’t Russia’s ally. And that’s the fact,” Pashinyan instructed the day by day.
“However I wish to additionally inform you that with the U.S. or France or different companions, our safety cooperation is just not focused towards our different safety sector accomplice.”
He mentioned Armenia was approaching the notion of relationships on its safety alliances “by utmost transparently talking with our companions about their shared agendas”.
And Armenia, he mentioned, had no intention of contemplating membership of NATO — as Ukraine has reaffirmed and Russia has denounced as unacceptable. Nato membership “is just not a query we’ve got mentioned or are discussing”.
He repeated that Armenia was contemplating whether or not to remain within the Russian-led Collective Safety Treaty Group.
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On the prospects for a long-term peace cope with Azerbaijan, Pashinyan mentioned “the fundamental structure” of an settlement had been reached final 12 months “and on the finish of final 12 months, it appeared to us that we had been very shut, lastly, to a ultimate textual content of settlement”.
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However Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, re-elected in a landslide final week, raised questions in a January interview by saying his troops wouldn’t pull again from border areas. He additionally dismissed using Soviet-era maps in talks as he mentioned territorial concessions had been made to Armenia final century.
