Newspaper: Armenia ruling force and Zelenskyy

Armenian Press 27 February, 2024 9:33

Hraparak daily of Armenia writes as follows: [Ruling majority] CC [Civil Contract Faction of the parliament] members were fleeing left and right yesterday, hearing the question about [Ukrainian President Volodymyr] Zelenskyy’s [possible] visit to Armenia. The head of the faction, Hayk Konjoryan, [faction members] Babken Tunyan, Vahe Ghalumyan from Nikol Pashinyan's patronage family, were flatly refusing to speak, Andranik Kocharyan, a specialist in all matters, even refused to speak.

"I don't want to evaluate [this possible] positively or negatively. After all, the president of Ukraine is the elected leader of the country and, like the leaders of other countries, if there is no special prohibition, he can visit Armenia," Tunyan said.

Ghalumyan noted [that] the visit has not been officially announced yet. "If there is, we will talk, but I cannot comment on assumptions." Is the freezing of [Armenia’s] relations with the CSTO an assumption, too? The prime minister said: should we stay or leave the CSTO now, in fact, we have security problems in the CSTO, therefore... "Therefore, we have to wait."

Won't the visit of the leader of the country at war with Russia aggravate the already tense Armenian-Russian relations? In MP Gagik Melkonyan’s words, Yerevan should not be concerned about this. "We are not interested in what Russia will react or not; it is its business. We are interested in the interests of our country, as the interests of our country dictate to us; that's how we will be guided."

We reminded that, according to the news, during the war [in 2020], Azerbaijan used Ukrainian phosphorus [weapons] in Artsakh [(Nagorno-Karabakh)]. "Who said it? Is it confirmed?" It is not denied either. "And they say it was Russian phosphorus," he remained adamant.

Various sources inform about the coming of the president of Ukraine to Armenia on March 4. At the end of last week, Valerii Lobach, Ukraine’s Charge d' Affairs in Armenia, had neither confirmed nor denied the information. "Spring will bring positive events to Armenia."