The issue of extraditing ex-officials having left Armenia and against whom Armenia has instituted criminal cases, is a legal issue, not a political one. This is what Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Russia to Armenia Sergey Kopirkin said during a year-end press conference today.

“In my opinion, the Prosecutor General of Armenia made it rather clear when he said the ex-officials depart to not only Russia, but also countries where they deem it more appropriate and favorable. I wouldn’t set aside Russia,” the Ambassador said.

As far as the issue of extradition is concerned, the Russian diplomat said it isn’t worth politicizing the issue consciously. “This is first and foremost a legal issue that needs to be solved and is being solved by the relevant competent authorities of our two countries,” Kopirkin stressed and mentioned that this is not the issue that should perturb the bilateral relations.