The head of the Armenian parliament, who criticized Russia, retracted his words

The Chairman of the National Assembly of Armenia, Alen Simonyan, who had previously made ambiguous statements about Russia, retracted his words. The politician told Izvestia about this on February 5 during his visit to Moscow.

"Armenia is interested in ties with Russia. About the CSTO (Collective Security Treaty Organization. You know our position," the politician said.

Simonyan's arrival in the Russian capital coincided with a rally in Moscow in front of the republic's embassy. The participants demanded that the persecution of the Apostolic Church in Armenia be stopped, as well as the release of the detained priests.

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On January 20, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov predicted negative consequences for Armenia after receiving €15 million from the European Union (EU). He expressed the hope that Armenian politicians who advocate cooperation with Russia will not be persecuted. The diplomat noted that Russia is watching with regret the development of the conflict around the Armenian Apostolic Church (AAC).

The head of the Shirak Diocese of the Armenian Apostolic Church, Archbishop Mikael Ajapakhyan, was detained on June 27 last year. The Investigative Committee of Armenia has opened a criminal case against him on calls to overthrow the government in the country. In turn, Armenian lawyer Varazdat Harutyunyan stated that the criminal case against the archbishop on calls to seize power is absurd from a legal point of view. The next day, the court arrested the archbishop for two months.

All important news is on the Izvestia channel in the MAX messenger.