Moscow counts on new Armenian leadership’s ability to find courage to withstand the blackmail and pressure on the part of the United States,  Russian Deputy FM Grigoriy Karasin said in an interview with RIA Novosti.

“Amid drastic changes in the country [Armenia], Washington’s interference into the internal and foreign affairs is more unprecedented in scale,” Karasin said.

According to him, it was insulting from Bolton to call the historical experience of the Armenian people “a historical cliché”. Bolton also urged Armenia to purchase the American weapons and join the sanctions against Iran as soon as possible, Karasin recalled.

“If this a public side of the American-Armenian relations, one can imagine the arm-twisting that is behind the scene,” Karasin emphasized.

“We count on Armenian leadership’s ability to find courage to withstand the open foreign blackmail and pressure and to make a stand for the right on making independent decisions stemming from the national interests,” the diplomat added.