“Washington and Brussels exert great pressure on the post-Soviet countries, trying to limit their interaction with Russia,” said Deputy Foreign Minister of the Russian Federation Mikhail Galuzin during an interview with Komsomolskaya Pravda newspaper, Paralel.Az’s Moscow correspondent reports.

According to him, the best example of this is Ukraine.

Galuzin also touched upon relations with Armenia:

“We sincerely appreciate the relations with Armenia, we try to establish them in a way of mutual respect and mutual benefit," said the Russian diplomat.

He believes that the West, on the contrary, is trying to "use Armenia as an instrument of hybrid war against Russia and the countries of the South Caucasus."

The Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Russia also spoke about the CSTO and noted that there is no other effective alternative mechanism to ensure Armenia’s security.

"Yerevan’s full participation in the work of the CSTO is in accordance with the wishes of the Armenian people and it serves to protect peace and stability in the South Caucasus," said the Russian diplomat.