Armenia Rounds on Belarus Leader

Lukashenko for years resisted much closer integration between the two nations envisaged by the treaty. But the authoritarian president has grown more supportive of the project since Moscow helped him stay in power following a disputed 2020 presidential election and his ensuing crackdown on dissent which led to more Western sanctions against Belarus.

Artur Khachatryan, a lawmaker from the main opposition Hayastan alliance, said the Armenian authorities have only themselves to blame for Lukashenko’s “unacceptable” remarks. He said they have become too reliable on Russia in dealing with serious security challenges facing Armenia after the 2020 war in Nagorno-Karabakh.

“The government deliberately lowered the degree of this country sovereignty, and of course Lukashenko and others will not hesitate to take advantage of that,” charged Khachatryan.

Lukashenko, who has a warm rapport with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, has repeatedly raised eyebrows in Yerevan in the past with pro-Azerbaijani statements on the Karabakh conflict and arms supplies to Baku. In 2018, he also questioned Armenia’s role in the Collective Security Treaty Organization after Armenian law-enforcement authorities indicted Yuri Khachaturov, the then secretary general of the Russian-led military alliance.