The Hraparak daily of Armenia writes as follows, in particular: According to information circulating within the [Armenian] authorities, RF [(Russian Federation)] Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s visit [to Armenia] did not resolve the matter of opening a Russian consulate in Syunik [Province] either.

Let us recall that the Russian side has been trying to open a consulate in Syunik since 2023. Meanwhile, Iran has also had a consulate in Kapan [city of Syunik] since 2022, and a French consulate will be opened in Goris [city of Syunik] in the coming days.

Although the Russian side has announced that there will be a concrete arrangement by the end of May, our sources say everything will be done so that the consulate is not opened. Yesterday, Marina Ghazaryan, a CC [i.e. ruling Civil Contract Party] MP from Kapan, gave an absurd answer to our question about why the opening [of the Russian consulate] is being delayed, [saying] that the problem is in the arena of the community leader: the issue of the space [for the consulate] is not being resolved, they are looking for a space for the consulate, which is the reason for the delay.