Hraparak daily of the Republic of Armenia (RA) writes as follows, in particular: Since late August, there have been rumors about the recall of RA ambassador to Russia Gurgen Arsenyan, which was written about and not denied.

In September, Arsenyan was in Armenia, and everyone was sure that he will not return to Moscow. However, to the surprise of many, he left again and continues to fulfill the duties of the ambassador, since, according to our source, the issue of the new ambassador's agrément has not yet been resolved.

We learned that yesterday Arsenyan organized a large event at his Moscow residence on the occasion of the 35th anniversary of RA independence, although 20 days have passed since Independence Day.

His close friends noted that Arsenyan organized the reception at his own expense, which could also be considered a farewell event. However, our sources say that in the near future they will organize a special farewell event with the ambassador at the RF MFA [i.e. the Russian Federation Ministry of Foreign Affairs].

Although the Russian side initially had some reservations regarding Arsenyan, they later found a common ground, which perhaps became the reason for his dismissal.

We had written that the RA authorities have decided to send to Moscow the [Armenian] ambassador to European countries, 67-year-old Samvel Mkrtchyan, who worked as the RA representative to NATO in 2004-10, who is also the uncle of Deputy Foreign Minister Robert Abisoghomyan. But the Russian side may not agree with his candidacy.