Who was to blame for the recent war? It was the Russians’ order and a reason for the Russians to obtain a road through Zangezur and Nakhchivan. This is what a citizen told leader of the opposition Bright Armenia Party, candidate for Prime Minister Edmon Marukyan during the political party’s campaign meeting in the Malatia-Sebastia district of Yerevan today.

The citizen asked Marukyan why he proposed to deploy another Russian military base in Syunik Province after he returned from Russia. In response, Marukyan said Russian soldiers have been protecting Armenia’s border with Turkey since Armenia gained independence in 1991 and added that there were no Russian soldiers on the Armenia-Azerbaijan border. When the citizen told Marukyan to go and stand on the border as well, the leader of the political party called on the citizen to not scream and recalled that Russian troops are also standing on the Armenia-Iran border.

According to the citizen, Armenia needs to reach a point where the Europeans come and interfere. “How many times have the Europeans come and protected Armenia’s borders throughout history? You are carrying out an anti-Russian propaganda,” the candidate for PM told the citizen (Marukyan recently stated that he is in favor of Armenia’s exit from the Collective Security Treaty Organization and the Eurasian Economic Union).