Russia rebukes Armenia for identifying the CSTO’s impotence
Tom Rogan
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The Russian foreign ministry has a special affinity for absurdity. But that ministry’s statement on Armenia on Monday was especially ridiculous.
In a long-winded diatribe, the ministry attacked Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan for asserting that Armenia’s strategic partnership with Russia was effectively useless for Armenia’s core interests. Calling out Russia for failing to prevent Azerbaijan’s rapid offensive in the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region, Pashinyan has shed yet more doubt on the credibility of the Russian-led Collective Security Treaty Organization, or CSTO.
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In response, the Russian foreign ministry claimed that Pashinyan’s rhetoric “is an attempt to shift responsibility for failures in domestic and foreign policies onto Moscow. … We are convinced that the Armenian leadership is making a huge mistake by deliberately attempting to sever Armenia’s multifaceted and centuries-old ties with Russia, making the country a hostage to Western geopolitical games.” It concluded, “Russia has always been true to its alliance commitments and respected Armenian statehood, and has never forced the republic to choose between being with us or against us.”
This rhetoric would be laughable were the stakes not so serious. But it’s clear why Russia is so upset: Armenia has called out the Russian-led CSTO for what it is — namely, a joke.
Designed as a counterweight to NATO, the CSTO has come under increasing pressure as Russia continues its war on Ukraine. That war has made Moscow’s once vaunted military seem far less impressive and Moscow’s political power along with it. Alongside their priority relationships with a rising China, CSTO members Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan have shown tentative signs of bolstering their relations with the West.
The basic problem for Russia, however, is that where CSTO membership is supposed to provide for common security, Russia is now granting Azerbaijan free rein to wage war on Armenia. Illustrating its disinterest in brokering a fair ceasefire or giving weight to Armenian concerns, the Kremlin last week released a statement suggesting Russian President Vladimir Putin’s easy forgiveness of Azerbaijan for its accidental killing of Russian peacekeepers.
As Armenians are now driven out of Nagorno-Karabakh and those who remain are denied sufficient food, it’s understandable that Armenia might not be so keen on Putin’s fiction of a greater Russia that protects the sovereign honor of its friends. Considering how important that fiction is to Putin’s political identity and that of his uber-hawk ideologue, adviser Nikolai Patrushev, it’s equally understandable why Moscow is not very happy with Pashinyan.