Armenia accuses Russia of planning to topple government

Relations between Armenia and Russia have stooped to a new low as Armenian authorities allege that Moscow financed and trained seven people to topple the country's pro-Western government early this year, Politico has reported.

The Investigative Committee of the Republic of Armenia which probed the matter has said seven people would be charged with “preparing to usurp power using violence and the threat of violence to take over the powers of government.”

The suspects were offered a three-month military training on Russian territory for a monthly payment of $2,400. The plans were carried out in cooperation "with other persons whose identity is yet to be determined," according to the statement.

The suspected plotters were to become acquainted with the use of sophisticated weapons as part of their training, according to the committee.

The Russian Ministry of Defense did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

‘Point of no return'

Earlier this year, Armenia declared its intention to pull out of a Russia-dominated security alliance of several ex-Soviet nations.

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said his government will decide later when to leave the Collective Security Treaty Organization, a grouping that includes Russia and the former Soviet Central Asian nations of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan.

Amid the widening rift with Russia, Armenia froze its participation in the alliance, cancelled its involvement in joint military drills and snubbed Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO).

Armenia’s premier added that his country is nearing a breaking point in its ties with the Russian-led CSTO.

“There is an expression: ‘point of no return,’ and if we haven't crossed it, there is a high probability that we will cross that point,” Nikol Pashinyan said at the Second Global Armenian Summit in the country’s capital Yerevan.

Pashinyan said two years have passed since Yerevan posed questions to the Russian-led military alliance, adding that not only were the answers to these questions not given, but that it is “obvious” they will not be answered.