YEREVAN. Feb 12 (Interfax) - Armenia is not refusing to cooperate with Russia in the security area, while discussing and working on such relations with third countries, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said.
"We have not said that we deny and reject cooperation with Russia in general and in the security sector in particular. What we have said is that we are going to diversify our relations in the security sector. What does this mean? Does this mean that we are going to break our security relationship with Russia? No, it doesn't mean that, but it means that in the field of security, we are preparing and ready, and we are discussing and working to establish relations, for example, with the European Union, which is already a reality by and large, with France, which is already a reality by and large, with the United States, which is already by and large a reality, with the Islamic Republic of Iran, which is already by and large a reality, with India, which is already by and large a reality, and with many other countries," Pashinyan said in an interview with the Telegraph, published on the Armenian government's website.
Armenia's security relations with the United States, or France, or India, or the European Union "are not naturally directed against Russia," he said.
"This is simply the consequence of the reality that the security relationships we used to have in the past do not address our security needs," Pashinyan said.
He repeated that Armenia is "not Russia's ally in the matter of Ukraine, and that is the reality."