Yerevan: We do not intend to join NATO, but we cooperate with it

Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan said in an interview published in the media that his country has no intention of joining NATO.

Armenian senior diplomat explained, “We are already cooperating with NATO, participating in peacekeeping operations in Afghanistan and increasing our presence in Kosovo. This is a form of cooperation”.

He went on to say that, but “about plans to join NATO, no. Today, this is not on the agenda of Armenia”.

Mirzoyan said in another part of his speech that “Regarding the European Union, Armenia is leaning towards Europe and I would like to repeat the recent statements of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan in the European Parliament. He said that Armenia is ready to be closer to this Union as much as the European Union wants to be closer to Armenia.

Recently, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said that Moscow is concerned about the meeting of Armenia, the European Union and the United States, scheduled for April 5 (April 17), because Washington and Brussels openly declare its anti-Russian nature.

He had previously said that Moscow talks with Armenia about the efforts of Western countries to drag Yerevan to the anti-Russian path, to warn about its dangers.

“Interference in conflicts, loss of national sovereignty and independence, and inability to realize national interests” are the consequences that Moscow has warned Yerevan that will plague this country if it approaches the Western NATO alliance.

Source: Fars