The Kremlin’s spokesperson Dmitry Peskov on Tuesday hit back at Armenia’s National Security chief Armen Grigoryan who claimed that Yerevan is being forced to join the Russia-Belarus union-state.
In an interview with Armenian Public Television on Monday to discuss the now 16-day blockade of the Lachin Corridor, Grigoryan said that the current crisis, as well as the September 13 invasion of Armenia by Azerbaijan are Baku’s way of pressuring Yerevan to open a land corridor through Armenia to Nakhichevan.
He also claimed that Armenia is under strong pressure to join the “Union State” created by Russia and Belarus.
“There are Russian peacekeepers at the Lachin corridor, and they play the key role there. The Lachin corridor is under the responsibility of Russian peacekeepers,” said Grigoryan when discussing the two-week-old blockade, through which, he said, “Azerbaijan is trying to destroy the ‘architecture’ of November 9, which should concern the Russian Federation. We [Armenia] are taking steps to resolve the crisis.”
Grigoryan said that in addition to Baku’s pressure-campaign, which has escalated since the September 13 invasion, Armenia has been under tremendous pressure from other players.
“With regard to the union state, the pressures on Armenia come from there as well. When Armenia’s democratic system resists this, it comes under different types of pressure in the form of military force,” Grigoryan said on the television interview as was reported by Azatutyun.am.
Although Grigoryan did not specifically mention Russia as the source of the alleged pressure campaign, Peskov, the Kremlin spokesperson, called Grigoryan’s comments “provocative.”
Speaking to News.am, Peskov unequivocally said that Grigoryan’s statements “do not correspond to reality” and insisted that Russia had never pressured Armenia to open a land corridor or to join the “Union State,” as the Russia-Belarus scheme is know.
