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Armenia and Russia have stood by their positions – results of Mirzoyan’s visit to Russia

January 23 2025, 12:10

For the first time since the summer of 2023, Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan paid a visit to Moscow, where he held talks with his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov. In the open part of the talks, as well as during the press conference, several important statements were made in terms of political messages.

According to Sergey Lavrov, Mirzoyan’s visit is evidence of overcoming the pause in communication between Moscow and Yerevan. Lavrov also reiterated that the agreements of the leaders of Russia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan from 2020 to 2022 continue to be relevant for Russia. The opening of the Russian Consulate in Syunik and the construction of a school at the Russian Embassy in Yerevan were discussed again.

Mirzoyan, in turn, said he hoped that Russia would take into account all the components of the current events, avoiding unilateral comments. He also stated that Armenia’s ruling party will vote for the draft bill launching the process of Armenia’s accession to the EU and also refrained from commenting on the incompatibility of the country’s simultaneous participation in the EU and the EAEU.

Recall, among other things, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexey Overchuk, who oversees the EAEU, spoke about this. Mirzoyan considered that Overchuk is just an expert, a theorist, because, according to the Armenian foreign minister, it is precisely such persons that declare the incompatibility of simultaneous/parallel participation in the two integration associations mentioned above.

In the context of Mirzoyan’s visit, it is important to note the events that took place in Yerevan during Mirzoyan’s stay in the Russian capital and after his return. Thus, National Assembly President Alen Simonyan once again stated that Russia had left Armenia alone, MP Gagik Melkonyan from the Civil Contract Party stated that it was “Russians who surrendered Artsakh,” and it also became known that on January 24, the Standing Committee on European Integration will discuss the draft bill approved by the government on the “start of a process of Armenia’s accession to the EU,” which gives the green light to holding a referendum on the initiative of 50,000 citizens who signed it.

Mirzoyan, who stated in Moscow that there are no timeframes or specific mechanisms for the implementation of the initiative, could not be unaware of this. But in Moscow, he had to play his part, and he did…

Those forces or the person who is behind the decision to visit Moscow for the first time in almost two years have relied on a very primitive factor: the Russian leadership may perceive Mirzoyan’s visit as a signal that “in reality, Armenia does not intend to complete the geopolitical U-turn,” which, in turn, may weaken Moscow’s potential opposition to Pashinyan’s actions.

At the moment, it can be noted that the statement on the relevance of the 2020-2022 agreements for Russia, as well as the actions of the Armenian side, show that the parties have not changed their initial positions, but now the “geopolitical showdown” of the parties has been postponed to the future. But postponement does not mean cancellation.

Think about it…