MOSCOW. March 29 (Interfax) - Armenia may be left with nothing if it follows the lead of NATO and EU members, the Russian Foreign Ministry said.
"It may happen so that residents of the republic will be left with nothing if they rely on empty promises of the European Union. Having ruined their economies by the rejection of Russian gas, bad advisors from the EU and NATO are pushing Armenians into the same dead-end, while also encouraging them to replace real nuclear energy with underdeveloped renewable energy," the ministry said on Friday.
It thus commented on a recent report by the Friends of Armenia Network titled "Deepening EU-Armenia relations: More Europe in Armenia; More Armenia in Europe" and drafted under the supervision of former NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen.
"The report suggests that Yerevan should withdraw from the EAEU, where Armenia, by the way, is the principal beneficiary. It does not say a word when and on what terms Armenians would get access to the EU common market," the ministry said.
"The same applies to the refocusing from cheap grains and food from Russia to EU agrarian products," it said. "In other words, by taking the path indicated in the report, Armenians will stop being the masters of their own home and will become servants of Western commercial giants in key economic sectors," it said.
Additionally, the ministry criticized the report's proposals on Armenian security. "The security proposals are completely at odds with common sense. The presence of the 102nd Russian military base and Russian border guards is the only real guarantee of Armenia's sovereignty," it said.
"The allegations that their withdrawal will bolster the republic's military potential in any way is dangerous demagogy," the ministry said.