\n Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan on Sunday signalled a major foreign policy shift away from Russia, following Moscow's refusal to enter the latest conflict with Azerbaijani over the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region.\n<\/p>\n
\n Pashinyan told the nation in a televised address that his former Soviet republic's current foreign security alliances were \"ineffective\" and \"insufficient\".\n<\/p>\n
\n He added that Armenia should join the International Criminal Court (ICC) -- a tribunal which has issued an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin over his actions in Ukraine.\n<\/p>\n
\n \"The systems of external security in which Armenia is involved are ineffective when it comes to the protection of our security and Armenia's national interests,\" Pashinyan said.\n<\/p>\n
\n His address aired just days after Azerbaijan claimed full control over Nagorno-Karabakh after a lightning offensive that forced rebels in the ethnic Armenian territory to agree to disarm.\n<\/p>\n
\n The separatists' apparent capitulation could mark the end of a conflict between the Christian and Muslim Caucasus rivals that has raged -- off and on -- through the three decades since the collapse of the Soviet Union.\n<\/p>\n
\n Armenia is a member of the Collective Security Treaty Organisation (CSTO) -- a Russian-dominated group comprised of six post-Soviet states.\n<\/p>\n
\n The group pledges to protect other members that come under attack.\n<\/p>\n
\n But Russia is bogged down in a war in Ukraine and has grown more isolated on the international stage.\n<\/p>\n
\n It argued that Yerevan itself had recognised the disputed region as part of Azerbaijan, and refused to come to Armenia's aid.\n<\/p>\n
\n \"It has become evident to all of us that the CSTO instruments and the instruments of the Armenian-Russian military-political cooperation are insufficient for protecting the external security of Armenia,\" he said.\n<\/p>\n
\n \"We must transform and supplement the instruments of Armenia's external and domestic security, in cooperation with all the partners who are ready for mutually beneficial steps,\" Pashinyan said.\n<\/p>\n
\n - 'Respect our sovereignty' -\n<\/p>\n
\n Pashinyan's address came after days of increasingly strong criticism in Moscow of what has been Russia's main ally in the volatile Caucasus.\n<\/p>\n
\n Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Saturday accused Armenia of \"adding fuel to the fire\" with its public rhetoric.\n<\/p>\n
\n Moscow had earlier this month summoned Armenia's ambassador following its decision to host US forces for small peacekeeping drills.\n<\/p>\n
\n Russian state television commentators have been attacking Pashinyan and other Armenian leaders for their criticism of Moscow.\n<\/p>\n
\n Pashinyan's comments about the ICC threaten to generate particular anger in the Kremlin.\n<\/p>\n
\n ICC judge Tomoko Akane issued an arrest warrant for Putin in March for the war crime of allegedly unlawfully deporting Ukrainian children.\n<\/p>\n
\n Putin has avoided visiting other ICC member nations to avoid the possibility of arrest.\n<\/p>\n
\n Pashinyan sent the Rome Statute -- a founding document of the ICC -- for parliamentary ratification earlier this month.\n<\/p>\n
\n The Armenian leader said the ICC could help \"ensure our security\".\n<\/p>\n
\n \"The decision is not directed against CSTO and the Russian Federation,\" Pashinyan said of his desire to join the tribunal.\n<\/p>\n
\n He concluded his address by calling \"on our colleagues to respect out sovereignty\".\n<\/p>\n
\n - 'Aggravating tensions' -\n<\/p>\n
\n Independent Armenia analyst Beniamin Matevosyan said Pashinyan was \"deliberately aggravating tensions with Russia\".\n<\/p>\n
\n \"He is openly telling Russia: if you don't help keep Armenians in Karabakh, I'll quit CSTO,\" he said.\n<\/p>\n
\n Matevosyan said the Nagorno-Karabakh supporters and people with roots in the region were leading the protests that have been simmering across Armenia in the past few days.\n<\/p>\n
\n \"He is afraid of the 120,000-strong mass of people (from Karabakh). He is seeing that so many Karabakhis are taking part in the street protests these days,\" Matevosyan told AFP.\n<\/p>\n
\n Pashinyan's new diplomatic line is also running up against the hard reality that Russia still has a military base in the Armenian city of Gyumri that offers Moscow important geopolitical influence.\n<\/p>\n
\n The base is believed to house 3,000 soldiers and has existed since World War II.\n<\/p>\n
\n Armenia analyst Hakob Badalyan added that, in view of the war in Ukraine, Western powers may be unwilling to become more involved in the region.\n<\/p>\n
\n \"The West doesn't want to assume the responsiblity,\" Badalyan said. \"It is telling Armenia: negotiate and make peace with (rivals) Turkey and Azerbaijan.\"\n<\/p>\n
\n Nagorno-Karabakh is internationally recognised as part of mostly Muslim Azerbaijan.\n<\/p>\n
\n But its status has been under dispute for centuries.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan on Sunday signalled a major foreign policy shift away from Russia, following Moscow's refusal to enter the latest conflict with Azerbaijani over the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region. Pashinyan told the nation in a televised address that his former Soviet republic's current foreign security alliances were \"ineffective\" and \"insufficient\". He added that […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":60,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[553],"tags":[],"ji_location":[],"class_list":["post-122182","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-live-feed"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n