Your trusted source

Opposition MP Tigran Abrahamyan has reacted to Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s latest statements on the suspension of Armenia’s participation in the Moscow-led Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO).

Speaking at the Antalya Diplomacy Forum on Saturday, Lavrov urged Armenia to finally decide on its further membership in the security bloc.

“The Russian diplomat basically warned that Armenia’s withdrawal from the CSTO and efforts to lower the bar in relations with Russia in general would entail consequences,” Abrahamyan, the secretary of the opposition Pativ Unem faction, wrote on Facebook on Monday.

“Presumably, it means a revision of Russia's policy towards Armenia, including political, military and economic cooperation. It is not to say that the Armenian authorities have just started to engage in such a discourse. The point is that Russia is trying to finally clarify whether this is just ordinary blackmail or Armenia's new orientation toward the EU.

“Russia is doing this so that in the future its tough response would be fully comprehensible for Armenia and the outside world, while the possible consequences depend on how the events are unfolding.

“What will the Armenian authorities do in this situation? Yes, they will take the worst way, as has always been the case,” the MP stated.