The fact that the Metsamor nuclear power plant of Armenia must be shut down is what then president Serzh Sargsyan had undertaken in the framework of the Comprehensive and Enhanced Partnership Agreement with the European Union (EU). Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan stated this during Wednesday’s question-and-answer session with the government in the National Assembly of Armenia—and referring to the accusation made by the opposition that by talking about a modular nuclear power plant, the incumbent Armenian authorities are preparing the ground for the Metsamor nuclear power plant to be shut down.

“Now we are saying that we are discussing the matter of having a new nuclear power plant with several partners: Russia, the United States, France, Korea, South Korea, and China. And the United States has obviously already signed one, two, three agreements. At the moment, we [i.e. Armenia] have programs worth 900 million euros from EU investments, and these programs will increase in the near future. By the way, investments will also be made within the framework of this package in the construction of the North-South [corridor’s] Sisian-Kajaran section,” Pashinyan said.

And regarding the opposition’s claims that Armenia has better UAVs and it was not worth buying such drones from the US, the premier said: “I will not hide [it]. Armenia has good products, and we also purchase those good products and we purchase even better products from the United States, and we are also ready to sell our good products to the United States. So, this is a very normal cooperation, and we will try to continue in that spirit.”