PM Pashinyan in Kazakhstan: “Sensitive geopolitical processes are underway”
PM Pashinyan’s comment on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine
According to the Prime Minister of Armenia, Western sanctions on Russia sparked by its attack on Ukraine will have a significant impact on the economic atmosphere in the Eurasian region. During a meeting with the leaders of the EAEU member states, Nikol Pashinyan stressed that geopolitical “sensitive tectonic processes” are underway, and “prompt decisions” must be made to reduce the negative impact of sanctions.
The Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) operates under the leadership of Russia and includes Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan. The organization provides its members with freedom of movement of labor, goods, services and capital. Armenia joined the EAEU in 2015.
On February 24-25, Pashinyan attended a meeting of the Eurasian Intergovernmental Council in Kazakhstan.
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“Sharp aggravation of the situation”
During the meeting of the leaders of the EAEU member states, the Prime Minister of Armenia noted that the meeting coincided with “a sharp aggravation of the geopolitical situation”:
“Obviously, we have entered a sensitive period, we are caught in geopolitically sensitive tectonic processes, in this context, of course, the Eurasian Economic Union is a format for the development of the economies of our countries”.
Pashinyan said that it is necessary to make prompt decisions that will reduce or avoid the negative consequences which sanctions will cause.
He expressed hope that the member countries of the union will be able to implement a policy that will strengthen the EAEU as an economic platform.
At the same time, the Prime Minister of Armenia positively assessed the results of mutual trade between the EAEU countries for 2021:
“Commodity turnover in 2021 increased by 20.6% compared to the previous year, amounting to $2.7 billion. The volume of exports from Armenia to the EAEU countries increased by 25.2% over the same period”.
Nikol Pashinyan noted that imports from the Union countries to Armenia grew by 18.5% and expressed hope that in 2022 cooperation will be “no less effective”:
“At this stage, it is extremely important to maintain momentum, to continue developing mechanisms for joint response to economic challenges”.
“CSTO mechanisms have finally started working”
The Prime Minister of Armenia and President of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev discussed bilateral relations and touched upon the integration processes of the EAEU and the CSTO military bloc, of which both countries are members.
Nikol Pashinyan happily stated that “normal life in Kazakhstan has been fully restored”, thanks to the assistance of partners in the Collective Security Treaty Organization. The Armenian prime minister emphasized that the CSTO crisis mechanisms have finally worked. He had in mind the dispatch of CSTO peacekeepers to Kazakhstan, when the president of this country declared a threat to sovereignty and requested the help of a military bloc.
The Collective Security Treaty Organization is a military bloc operating under the auspices of Russia. It includes Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan.
“Unfortunately, Armenia found itself in a situation where we thought that the mechanism would have worked, but, unfortunately, this did not happen. After that, we became the country chairing the CSTO and declared that this is one of our priorities”, Nikol Pashinyan emphasized.
The CSTO sent peacekeepers to Kazakhstan in early 2022, but did not respond to a call for help from Armenia in May 2021. Then the armed forces of Azerbaijan invaded the sovereign territory of Armenia, the country officially applied to the CSTO for help, but did not receive a positive response.
Since the fall of 2021, Armenia has taken over the chairmanship of the organization for a year. It was the Prime Minister of Armenia who announced the dispatch of a military contingent to Kazakhstan on the night of January 6 on his Facebook page, causing resonance in Armenian society.
