Chair of the Standing Committee on Protection of Human Rights and Public Affairs of the National Assembly of Armenia Taguhi Tovmasyan today met with Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Russian Federation to Armenia Sergey Kopirkin, as reported the Public Relations and Communication Department of the National Assembly.

Tovmasyan noted that the Committee has already held ten effective meetings during which issues related to Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) and the rights of residents of borderline settlements have been discussed. Tovmasyan also expressed willingness to work with her colleagues of the Russian Federation.

The parties attached importance to the high level of Armenian-Russian relations. Tovmasyan talked about the protection of human rights and the restriction on freedom of speech and, in this context, informed that she plans to hold discussions on the issues related to the citizenship of Russian citizens in Armenia and the Armenians who live in the Russian Federation and are or are not citizens of the country.

The deputy also spoke out about the statement of the Prosecutor General of Azerbaijan according to which international search is declared against 320 citizens of Armenia living in the Russian Federation and mentioned that she anticipates Russia’s support in this regard in order to make sure the wanted Armenians are aware of the criminal cases launched against them and the consequences.

The interlocutors also touched upon the effective cooperation between the Armenian Holy Apostolic Church and the Russian Orthodox Church, the weighty role of the Armenian community in Russia, the demarcation and delimitation of the borders between Armenia and Azerbaijan and the status of Artsakh. In this regard, importance was attached to the activities of the OSCE Minsk Group.