Zhoghovurd newspaper of the Republic of Armenia (RA) writes as follows: At the end of last year, [PM] Nikol Pashinyan had gone to [Russia’s] Saint Petersburg [city] to participate in the session of the Supreme Eurasian Economic Council [of the Eurasian Economic Union], and on December 26, to the informal summit of the CIS. Back on December 25, the RF [(Russian Federation)] president’s spokesperson, Dmitry Peskov, had announced that [Russian President Vladimir] Putin and Pashinyan "will have a great opportunity to communicate during the conference and within the framework of upcoming events."

But no information was given whether there was a bilateral meeting between Pashinyan and Putin or not. Zhoghovurd daily turned to RA prime minister's press secretary Nazeli Baghdasaryan to verify this information, who said that there is no such information. To our clarifying question as to whether there are reports that Putin rejected Pashinyan's proposal for a private conversation, whether there was a private conversation or not, Baghdasaryan said: "I have nothing to add."