Moscow called on Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan to name the two CSTO member countries he accused of helping Azerbaijan during the 2020 war.
“I know that at least two CSTO member countries participated in preparing for the war against us. These countries may have created an illusion that they wanted to help us or that they allegedly helped us,” Pashinyan told lawmakers on Wednesday.
He also claimed that the issue of Karabakh had been “closed” for these countries and their ultimate goal was to “eradicate the independent Republic of Armenia.”
Pashinyan then referenced remarks made by Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko, who, during a visit last week to occupied Shushi in Artsakh, boasted of his country’s support in remarks addressed to his Azerbaijani counterpart, Ilham Aliyev.
He added that Azerbaijan’s 2021 and 2022 incursions into Armenia’s sovereign territory, as well as the September 2023 military offensive in Artsakh pursued the same goals.
Russia’s foreign ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova on Thursday challenged Pashinyan to name the two countries he claimed had helped Baku.
“I am interested to know which countries the prime minister of Armenia was talking about. Do we all have to figure it out for ourselves? Or will they tell us later?” Zakharova said at a press briefing.
“I think it would be quite logical to name them if such serious statements are made. But let’s leave that to official Yerevan,” she added.
Zakharova then went on to elaborate that President Vladimir Putin of Russia personally had done everything “so that Armenia does not feel abandoned and forgotten.”
The foreign ministry spokesperson said that Putin spared no effort to stop the war and curb the losses. However, she said, it was Pashinyan who rejected a ceasefire proposal that would have ended the war in October 2020.
On numerous occasions Putin has claimed that the ceasefire proposal in October, 2020 would have ensured that Shushi would remain a part of Artsakh and has insisted that Pashinyan’s so-called rejection led to the escalation of military hostilities and the loss of Shushi and other territories.
