The ex-president of Armenia urged not to aggravate relations with Russia

Yerevan should not enter into an open confrontation with Russia. This was stated on May 10 by former Armenian President Robert Kocharyan at pre-election meetings in Gegharkunik.

"My position and the approach of our bloc are as follows: do not artificially aggravate relations with powerful powers, do not get into their contradictions — you will simply be crushed," Kocharyan said, quoted by the Yerevan news agency.Today Rus in its Telegram channel.

According to the former president, Russia is a big and patient country, but there are many examples when it did not forgive certain actions. According to him, the people of Armenia will suffer as a result of the contradictions.

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On May 4, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan held talks with Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky at the European Political Community (ENP) summit in Yerevan. The parties discussed the prospects for the development of bilateral relations. The next day, within the framework of the Yerevan Dialogue Forum, the President of Armenia stated that Armenia had changed its geographical location and was now located at the crossroads of West and East. Later, on May 7, he announced that he would not take part in the Victory Day Parade in Moscow on May 9 due to the election campaign in the republic.

The official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, stressed on the same day that Yerevan had violated its promises not to take steps against Moscow. According to the diplomat, if this is the case with assurances, it means that the Armenian leadership is not keeping its promises not only to Russia and its citizens.

Two days later, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that relations between Russia and Armenia have been special for centuries. Speaking about Armenia's plans to join the European Union (EU), Putin noted that this requires special consideration, but Russia does not see "anything special" in this. The Russian President also expressed the opinion that it would be logical to hold a referendum in Armenia on the development of cooperation with the EU in order to find out the opinion of citizens.