Russia's relationship with one of its oldest allies is on the brink of collapse.
This week, the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), a military alliance of seven nations led by Russia and Vladimir Putin, convened.
However, at the summit in Moscow, only six of the countries' leaders attended.
One chose to stay home – namely, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan.
Neither did his defense minister show up, as reported by the English-language The Moscow Times.
Kremlin: "We Regret This"
At the end of the week, the Kremlin expressed its disapproval of the Armenian decision to skip the meeting with the military alliance.
"We express regret in this regard," said Vladimir Putin's spokesperson Dmitry Peskov to Russian state TV.
At the same time, they implored Nikol Pashinyan not to betray the group of Russia and former Soviet states.
"We hope that Armenia does not change the vector of its foreign policy and remains our ally. We will continue to talk to them," said Dmitry Peskov.
"Complain Face to Face"
Belarusian dictator Alexander Lukashenko, who is also part of the CSTO, was more outspoken in his criticism of Armenia.
"If you have complaints, you must express them in face-to-face conversations instead of dumping things to the media," he said, according to belta.by.
The dictator added that it was "irresponsible and short-sighted" of Armenia to create a "conflict" in the group, thereby benefiting the West.
"Mistake" to Trust Russia
Tensions between the two countries have been high since September when Russian peacekeeping forces failed to intervene in Azerbaijan's lightning offensive against ethnic Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh.
At the same time, Nikol Pashinyan stated that it was a "strategic mistake" to trust Russia.
"Armenia's security architecture was 99.999 percent tied to Russia. But today we see that Russia itself is in need of weapons. Even if they wished, the Russian Federation cannot meet Armenia's needs," said the Prime Minister at the time.
Relationship Crumbling
According to Valery Karbalevich, an independent political analyst, Armenia's absence from the latest summit marks another rift in the country's relationship with Russia.
"The post-Soviet alliances were based on Russia's subsidies, and Russia is now facing serious resource problems amidst the conflicts in Ukraine," he told AFP.
Facts: Members of the CSTO
Armenia
Belarus
Kazakhstan
Kyrgyzstan
Russia
Tajikistan
