Armenia’s rapprochement with the West in the context of a broad diversification of its foreign policy ties creates new challenges in relations between Moscow and Yerevan, Russian ambassador to Armenia Sergey Kopyrkin has said.

“We [i.e. Russia] know that the EU is currently pursuing a hostile policy towards the Russian Federation and, in general, is giving an undisguised signal to its partners that they should support this policy, including in terms of sanctions. Of course, this creates new challenges in our relations and requires a very sensible, balanced, wise approach, strategic foresight from both sides [i.e. Armenia and Russia],” Kopyrkin said in an interview with Rossiya-24 television.

He added that this requires adapting bilateral relations to new realities.

Also, the Russian ambassador to Armenia noted that Moscow is open to discussing the possibility of Russia's participation in the Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity (TRIPP) project, especially taking into account the cooperation between Russia and Armenia in the development of the railway sector.

According to Kopyrkin, Russia is closely following the developments surrounding the TRIPP project.