Armenian-Russian relations are at the same level they were at in recent times. A conversation took place at the invitation of the Russian MFA, we met, we listened to the questions, the arguments raised by them, and we conveyed them to Yerevan. Armenian ambassador to Russia Gurgen Arsenyan stated this in an interview with Armenian News-NEWS.am—and referring to the information that the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) had summoned the Armenian ambassador to Russia and expressed its protest against hosting Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelenskyy in Yerevan.

To the remark that, according to Russian media, the Armenian ambassador was told by the Russian MFA that providing a platform to Zelenskyy in Yerevan contradicts allied obligations, Gurgen Arsenyan replied: “That message was on Russian TV channels, similar various statements were made by Russian officials.” Also, the Armenian ambassador to Russia urged to find out the details from the Armenian MFA.

To the question of to what extent Armenian-Russian relations have come under attack amid these events, Arsenyan replied: “Armenian-Russian relations are at the same level they were at in the recent period. The [Armenian] prime minister’s visit to Moscow on April 1 recorded the full extent of Armenian-Russian relations. We recall that the prime minister assessed that visit as successful and productive, which also contains an assessment of the current situation.”

When reminded that after that visit, very harsh statements were made by Russia, in particular by Russian Deputy Prime Minister Overchuk, about the possible economic consequences, the Armenian ambassador to Russia said: “Similar statements occur, there are different opinions among the interlocutors which concerns the matter—adopted by Armenia—of having a closer relations with the European Union.”

Reflecting on the data that since the beginning of this year, the Armenian-Russian trade has decreased, the Armenian ambassador to Russia noted that no significant decline has been registered. “There is an increase in trade in certain product groups, a decrease in trade in certain product groups, and this is due to certain legislative changes that have been adopted in Armenia and Russia. However, there is no significant decline, we have certain changes being made by our economy, certain capabilities are coming into force, certain capabilities are leaving the field of active economic activity,” he said.

And speaking about Armenia’s parliamentary elections on June 7, Gurgen Arsenyan said: “During meetings with Russian officials, I always say I am not thinking about June 7 as an ambassador at this time, I am starting to think about June 8 at this time, because June 7 will be, the authorities will be formed in Armenia, our relations must continue, and our agenda, workload, and actions related to these relations must continue in a normal course.”