Our neighboring countries are Iran, Turkey, Georgia and Azerbaijan. We do not share a direct border with the Russian Federation, but of course the Russian Federation is a serious and significant player in the South Caucasus region, said Armenia's Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan in an interview with British media.
"As to what you said about coming closer with the West, actually we were never far from the West. As for the numerous examples that after the 2018 People's, non-violent, velvet revolution our relationship with the West has come much closer, before the revolution Armenia and the EU had signed the Comprehensive and Enhanced Partnership Agreement, and the responsibility of implementing that agreement fell on our Government.
Of course our achievements in the field of democracy have created an objective reality where our relationship can develop dynamically. But if we step aside for a moment from the current media stream, nothing unpredictable is actually happening, especially that after the 2018 revolution we said that democracy for us is not a policy adopted by virtue of circumstances, it is a strategy for us. There is another circumstance that is significant and that circumstance is the diversification of foreign and security relations.
But to be very direct and sincere, it's not a cause, it's a consequence, because we are diversifying our foreign relations, but we are not the only ones doing that. Practically, around the world, you would not find any actor which is not diversifying its foreign relations, even those who prior to 2022 thought they were sufficiently diversified.
Everyone is diversifying their foreign relations, and Armenia could not step aside this new trend. As to further rapprochement with the European Union, I said in my speech before the European Parliament that the Republic of Armenia is ready to be as close with the European Union as the European Union sees it possible," Pashinyan said.
