Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan continues to play with fire. Since coming to power, he has been trying to separate his country from Russia. And the head of the Armenian government does this, of course, not by his own will, but by the order of his "masters" in the West. His last visit to France once again confirmed that Pashinyan is far from relying on Russia, he is determined to entrust the security of himself and his country to the West, especially to France. But will it work?

It seems that even after the Second Karabakh War, as well as the anti-terrorist measures in September 2023, Armenia continues to look for its security not in the region where it lives, but far abroad. But there are many people in Armenia, Russia, and other countries of the region who understand that this is futile. Unfortunately, Pashinyan still does not understand, or does not allow, that regional cooperation and security are the best way out for Yerevan. Of course, we should not forget the direct pressure of Paris on him in this direction.

The Prime Minister of Armenia was recently received in Paris by President Macron at a high level, he was highly praised, and at the end he made a statement about the "deep emotional ties" between the Armenian and French peoples. At the same time, although he did not want to irritate Russia too much, he did not hide the coldness of his relations with the Collective Security Treaty Organization and stated that Armenia no longer trusts this organization. That's why he "froze" his participation in the CSMT. According to him, CSMT did not fulfill its functions, especially in relation to Yerevan in 2021-2022. But Pashinyan is not going to leave the organization yet. Because leaving the ranks of the CSTO does not meet the interests of Armenia. At the same time, Pashinyan is in no hurry to remove the 102nd Russian military base in Gyumri from the country. Of course, all these statements are meant to avoid angering Russia. But in reality, Armenia is moving away from Russia step by step and falling into the hands of France.

They also understand this well in Russia. And in Moscow, they don't want to exaggerate the issues yet. However, certain warnings are given to Yerevan. President Vladimir Putin mildly said that leaving the CSTO does not meet the interests of Armenia.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said diplomatically, "I cannot say who advised Yerevan." But we have witnessed that the European Union, France, Germany, and the United States, seeing that the Russia-Armenia-Azerbaijan process has yielded results in terms of both the opening of routes, border delimitation, and the preparation of a peace agreement, have immediately and uninvitedly interfered in these processes and played a disruptive role. we were."

Yesterday, the Secretariat of the Collective Security Treaty Organization said in connection with Pashinyan's French statement that the CSTO Secretariat did not receive any statement from Yerevan regarding the suspension of membership, the thesis of the Armenian Prime Minister seems to be related to the republic's non-participation in a number of events of the organization. No statement has been received regarding the suspension of membership in the CSTO. As for the thesis of freezing participation, it seems that it is about the fact that the Republic of Armenia has not participated in a number of events carried out by the organization recently."

Of course, Pashinyan blindly obeyed France's actions. But France is not going to focus on the security of this country, it intends to realize its political ambitions and strengthen its position in the South Caucasus. The provision of some old-fashioned weapons and military equipment to Armenia also shows this. Some sane Armenians also understand this. For example, Armenian poliotologist Alexander Iskanderyan admitted that many people in Armenia want to replace Russia, which performs the functions of ensuring the security of this country, with someone else. And this is a serious mistake: "Russia has not performed these functions, is not performing them yet, and does not intend to perform them. They are busy, they have many worries. Can someone else, including the West, replace this imaginary Russia? Of course not. Sooner or later we will have to work on our own, or things will get worse."

Indeed, if tomorrow Pashinyan starts a war again at the instigation of France, an Armenian soldier will die on the battlefield, of course, not a French one. After all, in order for France to suppress Russia in the South Caucasus and settle in its place, does Pashinyan need to sacrifice up to 10 thousand more Armenian youths, as in the Second Karabakh War?! Probably not. We are not talking about Russia's reaction to "deep emotional ties" yet. Perhaps, looking at Ukraine, it is possible to imagine the scale of the disaster.

Therefore, we believe that the hand of peace extended by Azerbaijan should be taken. This means both peace, tranquility, cooperation, socio-economic progress, and finally, security. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan does not say for nothing that Armenia should seek its security in the region, not far away. That would be the best move…

Pasha Amircanov
XQ