YEREVAN. – Armenia’s former Foreign Minister, Vartan Oskanian, does not speak impartially—to say the least—with respect to the country’s present-day foreign policy. Ruling Republican Party (RPA) National Assembly Faction Secretary Hovhannes Sahakyan stated this, commenting on Oskanian’s recent interview with Regnum News Agency.   

“According to him [that is, Oskanian], Armenian-Russian relations are in decline. [But] Mr. Oskanian is greatly mistaken, and the Armenian-Russian strategic partnership and allied cooperation are stronger than ever,” Sahakyan noted and added:     

“I should remind Mr. Oskanian that there was no state visit to Armenia by the President of Russia, [and] there was no state visit to Russia by the President of Armenia either during or before the years of his [that is, Oskanian’s] tenure [as FM]. There is no domain of cooperation of our two countries where progress is not registered.”    

The RPA MP also recorded that Vartan Oskanian is dissatisfied with Armenia’s present-day foreign policy.

“I will not agree with him yet again. Armenia’s [current] foreign policy is much more multilayered and comprehensible, for the important players in international relations, than ever before. For example, let us consider the Armenian-American relations. The former [US] Secretary of State [that is, Hillary Clinton] visited [Armenian capital city] Yerevan twice, in 2010 and in 2012.     

Or, let us take the relations with the European Union. Armenia has gone so much ahead on the road to European integration that it is considered one of the ‘‘A’ students’ of the [EU] Eastern Partnership,” Hovhannes Sahakyan said and added:  

“Armenia is considered a reliable and a stable partner for the whole international community. Our [present-day] foreign policy has reached a level which, as Georgian PM Bidzina Ivanishvili had noted, serves as a good example for other countries.”   

Photo by Arsen Sargsyan/NEWS.am