Anna Grigoryan on why Putin congratulated President Kocharyan, but not Pashinyan

The actions of Russian President Vladimir Putin are quite natural and reflect the existing political realities. This was stated at a press conference by the head of the “Armenia” faction Anna Grigoryan, commenting on the fact that the Russian leader congratulated the second president of Armenia Robert Kocharyan on his birthday, which he did not do in connection with the re-election of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan.

“First of all, why did Vladimir Putin congratulate President Kocharyan? I think this is obvious, given the long-standing, including friendly, relations and the high level of partnership. As for why he did not congratulate Nikol Pashinyan, this is also obvious, given that today the Armenian-Russian relations are in a rather difficult phase as a result of the policies pursued by these authorities.

Of course, his (Pashinyan’s – ed.) lack of legitimacy also had a rather serious impact, since the entire election campaign and the electoral process were accompanied by total violations, and as a result, the votes of Prosperous Armenia were literally stolen. Therefore, in conditions of a pronounced lack of legitimacy, it was very logical not to congratulate him,” the deputy noted.