For Pashinyan, culture and politics are West, and economics is Russia – Artur Atayev

Political scientist Artur Atayev spoke to Alpha News about Russian-Armenian relations.

“Relations between Armenia and Russia are stable; they are at a stable level. What does this mean? Economic cooperation is quite strong and, to some extent, effective, while military-political cooperation is virtually nonexistent, yet this stable regime has been maintained for quite some time. While Armenia’s ties with the West are intensifying, relations with Russia are not stagnant but rather a kind of stagnant stability,” the expert said.

According to Atayev, Armenian Prime Minister Pashinyan views the West as a political ally, while Russia is an economic one.

“Pashinyan doesn’t have emotional swings. He, too, sticks to a single line. His pro-Western political orientation is very clearly evident, and economically, he maintains quite intensive interaction with Russia. Moreover, he is increasing economic interaction with Russia. Again, how is this expressed? Look: the opening of the railway connection. Grain is now arriving, in addition to the Georgian Military Highway, on which Armenia is quite dependent, via an alternative railway route. In this regard, I believe his vector is also obvious, and it is quite clearly visible. Culture and politics are the West, and economics is Russia,” the political scientist concluded.