RUSSIA WILL STAY IN THE CAUCASUS
WPS Agency, Russia
December 3, 2013 Tuesday
by Yelena Yegorova
Source: Moskovsky Komsomolets, No 268, December 3, 2013, p. 2
RUSSIA WILL REWARD ARMENIA’S LOYALTY WITH INVESTMENTS; Armenia was
lured into the Customs Union.
Russian President Vladimir Putin flew to Armenia yesterday. Armenia
could well follow in Ukraine’s steps… but local leaders knew better
than pushing things to and beyond the boiling point. As a result,
they are entitled to a carrot from Moscow instead of a stick from the
domestic opposition. Putin promised official Yerevan investments and
a discount on gas. “Russia will never leave the Caucasus,” he said.
Armenian leaders aspired for rapprochement with Europe as greatly as
their Ukrainian counterparts only recently. Armenian Prime Minister
Tigran Sargsjan openly called membership in the Customs Union
“pointless and impossible” this summer. The premier promised that
come November, Armenia would sign the agreement of association with
the European Union at the Eastern Partnership summit in Vilnius.
Everything changed on September 3 when President Serj Sargsjan visited
Putin in Moscow. Once their meeting was over, Armenia executed an
unexpected U-turn. Nobody knows exactly what arguments made the
Armenian president a political weather vane but it is very unlikely
that they greatly differed from Moscow’s usual rhetorics in dealings
with CIS partners. Armenia is a traditional importer of Gazprom and
foods from Russia. A mere hint at the problems could might develop in
these spheres would have persuaded Sargsjan to play ball. Particularly
since the domestic opposition clamoring for rapprochement with
Europe did not make all that much noise in the first place. (What
few opposition activists were out in the streets with pro-European
posters on the day of Putin’s arrival were promptly overwhelmed and
whisked away to police stations.)
Speaking at the form “Russia. Armenia. Customs Union”, the Russian
president said that official Yerevan had considered all pros and cons
and made its choice. “That’s it sovereign right and its own choice,”
said Putin and promised Armenia help with making “the process of
integration as smooth as possible”.
“Russia will never leave the Caucasus. On the contrary, Russia means
to reinforce here,” said Putin.
Unlike obstinate Kiev that is paying for its obstinacy these days,
Armenia required practically nothing in terms of persuasion. In any
event, this loyalty has to be appreciated and rewarded now… and
rewarded it will be. Russia will invest in Armenian infrastructure and
industry, it will help Armenia modernize its railways and technically
obsolete nuclear and hydroelectric power plants… There are 1,300
companies with Russian capitals functioning in Armenia at this point
– Gazprom, VTB, Russian Railways, Inter RAO Unified Energy Systems,
and many others.
[Translated from Russian]