The Armenian and Belarusian peoples are fraternal peoples, they have very close friendly ties, and no statement can affect that friendship. Deputy speaker Hakob Arshakyan of the National Assembly (NA) of Armenia told this to reporters in the NA Tuesday—and referring to Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko’s statement Monday that, "Armenia has no place to go."

"I do not see any reason to comment here, I do not want to respond to such statements, there have been various expressions similar to it at various times. These are statements being voiced on their internal political issues concerning the country. Such matters are not discussed in Armenia in any way," he said.

Arshakyan made a reference to the respective statement issued by the Armenian foreign ministry spokesman, adding that his comments in this regard could not differ from those of the foreign ministry. "If the MFA makes any comments, then it is appropriate," he said.

And to the remark that perhaps secret negotiations are actually underway to create a union state comprising the former Soviet countries, the Armenian official responded: "No. There are no such discussions."

In an interview with renowned Russian journalist Vladimir Solovyov, and speaking about a union state of Belarus and Russia and the prospects for other post-Soviet countries joining it, Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko had said: "Armenia has no place to go. Do you think anyone needs them? They have already seen [that] ... [Armenian PM] Nikol Vovayevich [Pashinyan] has seen that."