Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan said Armenia is not seeking to sever relations with Russia, responding in Gyumri to recent comments made by Deputy Chairman of Russia’s Security Council Dmitry Medvedev.
Earlier, Medvedev claimed that Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan had “chosen the path of breaking relations” with Russia.
“The information possessed by that official is incorrect. Armenia is not interested in severing political, economic or any other ties with Russia,” Mirzoyan said, according to Panorama.am .
According to the minister, the Armenian side holds the opposite position.
“We are determined, we want and we will strive to preserve our normal relations and deepen them,” he said.
Asked by journalists what explains such statements from senior Russian officials, Mirzoyan replied: “I do not want to comment, I do not know and I am not certain. During the campaign I do not even have much time to follow everything, but I assume you specialize in this field as well, so try to make your own assumptions.”
Commenting on circulating reports about settling 300,000 Azerbaijanis in Armenia, the foreign minister said: “How many times can one respond to complete nonsense?”
Mirzoyan also stated that rhetoric surrounding “Western Azerbaijan” does not fit within the peace agenda or the framework of agreements reached between the sides.
Medvedev had also argued that Pashinyan’s political course endangered Armenia’s relations with Russia, the Collective Security Treaty Organization and the Eurasian Economic Union.
“Apparently, he took us for fools. At the same time, he himself made a serious mistake in systemic understanding and is pursuing a policy extremely dangerous for his own country… Just think: as a result of this man’s actions, the entire Armenian people will suffer, losing the Russian market, the entire EAEU and economic ties built over decades,” Medvedev added.
