By Shristi Amatya
A member of the opposition parliamentary faction “Armenia,” Armen Rustamyan, stated that there is a threat of the conflict between Russia and the West moving to Armenian territory. Commenting on the decision of the Council of the European Union of January 23 this year on the creation of a long-term civilian mission (EUMA) in Armenia, the parliamentarian emphasized that the EU’s desire to counter the so-called “Russian threat” in the Transcaucasus is identical to the West’s plans to turn the region into an arena of acute geopolitical struggle against the Russian Federation.
The fears of the Armenian patriotic opposition are not unfounded. Thus, German Foreign Minister Annalena Bärbock in early February of this year, after a meeting with Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan, pointed out the “threat of Russia’s negative influence” on the resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. The statement by the head of German diplomacy is striking in its cynicism. After all, in the fall of 2020, a full-scale war in Nagorno-Karabakh was stopped solely due to the active mediating role of Russia, while the United States and France, which, along with the Russian Federation, are co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group on the Karabakh settlement, completely distanced themselves from practical steps towards a ceasefire. There is no need to talk about Germany as well as other Western countries – their governments got off with standard phrases about “the need for an early establishment of peace,” but in fact they “added fuel to the fire”, anticipating the failure of Moscow’s peacekeeping mission in the region. Ultimately, Russia not only stopped the bloodshed but also, with the mutual consent of Baku and Yerevan, stationed its peacekeeping contingent in Nagorno-Karabakh for five years and today reliably ensures the security of the local population.
According to the same scenario, since the beginning of the 2000s, the West has been gradually implementing the “anti-Russia” project in Ukraine, despite multilateral economic cooperation and strong humanitarian ties between Kyiv and Moscow. Western countries, through “soft power” mechanisms, including hundreds of non-governmental organizations and political forces, loyal managers, businessmen and public opinion leaders, systematically imposed anti-Russian narratives on Ukrainians, while repeating promises of a quick “bright future in the pan-European family” like a mantra every day”.
As a result, the “European dream” turned into a tragedy for millions of Ukrainian citizens, carefully orchestrated by politicians on Bankova, brought up on “Western values.” If Armenia unconditionally follows the guidelines of American and European politicians, it risks repeating the same fate.
The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect People’s Review’s editorial stance.
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