Russia warns Armenia about risks of moving towards West at expense of traditional partners

By Elena Teslova

MOSCOW (AA)—Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov warned Armenian parliament Speaker Alen Simonyan of the "risks of rapprochement with the West to the detriment of cooperation with traditional allies" during a meeting in Moscow on Thursday.

The Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement that the two officials had "a frank and substantive exchange of views ... on current issues in Russian-Armenian relations."

"The Russian side reaffirmed its commitment to the swift practical implementation of initiatives aimed at strengthening the military-political, trade-economic, and cultural-humanitarian ties between Moscow and Yerevan," it said.

Issues of interaction within Eurasian integration projects were also addressed, the statement noted.

"The risks of rapprochement with the West to the detriment of cooperation with traditional allies were explained," it added.

At the regional level, topics related to the Armenian-Azerbaijani normalization process were discussed, and the importance of the steady work of the "3+3" Regional Cooperation Platform—comprising Russia, Türkiye, and Iran on one side and Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia on the other—was noted.

Armenia has distanced itself from Russia since its defeat in the war with Azerbaijan, during which Baku regained control of all previously occupied territories.

Yerevan has accused Moscow of providing insufficient support and has intensified contacts with the West.