Refusal to stay in CSTO to have consequences for Armenia 

ArmInfo.  Refusal to stay in the CSTO and lowering the bar of relations with Russia will have consequences for Armenia, opposition Armenian MP Tigran Abrahamyan wrote on his Facebook page, commenting on the statement of Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov that Yerevan must make a clear decision: whether the republic remains in the CSTO or leaves it.


"This means a revision of Russian policy towards Armenia, that is, from political, military and economic cooperation. The point is not that the RA government launched this discourse not yesterday or today, but that the Russian Federation is trying to understand whether we are talking about ordinary blackmail or about Armenia's new course towards the European Union," he wrote. 


He added that the Russian Federation is doing this so that in the future its harsh opposition will be fully perceived in Armenia and in the outside world, and what consequences and to what extent they will have depends on the course of events. "What will the Armenian authorities do in this situation? They, as always, will take the worst path, as when making all previous important decisions," the MP noted.


Earlier, at a press conference in Antalya, the Russian minister said that Russia is waiting for Yerevan to announce a final decision on its participation in the CSTO, and the Armenian authorities need to make a decision.