‘These loud demonstrations did not create a positive atmosphere’: Areshev on protests against Lavrov’s visit

Speaking with Alpha News, Russian political scientist and expert at the Political Culture Foundation Andrey Areshev commented on the crisis in Armenian-Russian relations, the existence of which is already acknowledged by official Yerevan and Moscow.

“The Russian side is working to minimize the consequences of this crisis and prevent its possible escalation into a situation that could seriously complicate the Armenian-Russian economic interaction. Of course, I believe it is impossible to do this within the framework of one visit…. But Sergey Lavrov is trying to present Moscow’s perspective on what is going on, including those acute issues that are often subject to various forms of manipulation in modern Armenia—not always in good faith. It is hard work, it should be approached seriously. Recently we have seen the activation of Russian diplomacy, soft power, and various formats of bilateral dialogue at different levels. I believe it is related to the internal political processes taking place in Armenia and the international background or balancing—as they like to say in Armenia—of foreign policy relations, which are characterized by contacts of various levels,” he said.

Commenting on the protests by pro-Western forces in Yerevan against Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s visit to Armenia, Areshev emphasized that “these loud demonstrations did not create a positive atmosphere.”

“We understand perfectly well that this kind of sentiment is spread in Armenia in a certain way. We are also aware that some of Sergey Lavrov’s current negotiating counterparts have backgrounds in NGOs and were previously seen near the Russian Embassy participating in, to put it mildly, unfriendly protests. Unfortunately, this kind of situation was anticipated. Yes, of course, these people are connected with the authorities of Armenia. I believe the Russian side and Russian negotiators are well aware of this. Nonetheless, throughout negotiations and discussions—including those focused on mutually beneficial economic relations between Russia and Armenia—they seek to ‘separate the wheat from the chaff,’”Areshev said.