YEREVAN. – Holding a celebration in Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh) on the recent referendum in Crimea seems doubtful to Armenia’s National Assembly opposition Heritage Faction member, former FM Alexander Arzumanyan.

“There was such a celebration yesterday [i.e., Tuesday] in Nagorno-Karabakh that you would think Artsakh became a member in the UN Security Council. This means that Russia has forced the Armenian party to react in such a way,” Arzumanyan said at a press conference on Wednesday.

In his words, official Yerevan will be neutral on this matter as long as Russia will allow it.

“I hope Armenia will be able to explain to its strategic partners that maintaining good relations with Ukraine, Russia, and the European Union is important for our security, for us,” Armenia’s ex-FM stated.

He also stressed that he does not believe that a fair referendum was held in Crimea.

“Russia annexed Crimea; the [Russian] army exerted violence there. In addition, no international observer monitored the referendum process. Hence there is no word about a fair election,” Alexander Arzumanyan noted.

Photo by Arsen Sargsyan/NEWS.am