Armenia faces a choice: the West or Russia? Yerevan must decide how to solve its security issues. Gagik Melkonyan, an MP of the ruling Civil Contract Faction of the National Assembly of Armenia, stated this in an interview with the RFE/RL Armenian Service.
According to Melkonyan, Armenia must make that choice at some point.
"[Russian FM Sergey] Lavrov says: ‘Armenia must take sides.’ The West says: ‘Armenia must take sides.’ Now you went towards the West, you will have an enemy like Russia. You went towards Russia, it means the loss of Armenia with its territories. You are eliminating the independence of Armenia because we know what the end is when they propose to us to enter the Russian-Belarusian composition—alliance. That is already the end of Armenia," said the lawmaker of the ruling faction.
Yerevan does not have a decision yet, assures the ruling force legislator. At the same time, Melkonyan does not rule out that if Armenia continues its current policy, it will be removed from the Russia-led Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO).
"All that is being discussed. After that discussion it will be seen whether they will take us out, or we will get out [of the CSTO]. But there is time because the discussions are still going on," the Armenian ruling power MP stressed.
