Russia hits back at Armenian criticisms over Karabakh

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation responded angrily to the statements made yesterday by Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan who blamed Russia for the deterioration of the security situation in Nagorno-Karabakh region. Pashinyan tries to spare himself the responsibility for the failure of the domestic and foreign policies of his country, the ministry said in a statement on Monday. The majority of Armenians realize the risks of turning their country into hostage of geopolitical ploys and destroying the historical bonds between Armenia and Russia, according to the statement. Accused Armenia's prime minister of seeking regularly to sabotage the strategic Russian-Armenian relationship through rapprochement with the West, the Ministry said that Russia was committed to its alliance obligations with Armenia. The Russian Federation seeks to strengthen the relations with Armenia regardless of the attempts of some Armenian politicians to undermine those relations, it stressed. Yesterda y, the Armenian prime minister criticized as ineffective the Armenian-Russian security relations in the wake of Azerbaijan regaining control over the disputed enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh last week. He accused the Russian peacekeeping force in the region and the Russian-led the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) of shouldering their responsibility for preventing the swift military offensive of Azerbaijan. Pashinyan's accusations followed several steps that angered Moscow, including the joint Armenian-US military drills and rejection to take part in similar drills with CSTO's other five former Soviet member states. Armenian protesters gathered in front of the Russian Embassy in Yerevan, capital of Armenia, and chanted anti-Russia slogans as ethnic Arminian gunmen surrendered and thousands of their fellow citizens started fleeing to Arminian. Source: Kuwait News Agency