Speaker comments on reports about improving ties with Russia

Armenian Speaker of Parliament Alen Simonyan has commented on media reports suggesting that the tension in the relationship with Russia has been subsiding. 

Simonyan told reporters that there were problems and questions that were raised and will continue to be raised.

“The assessments voiced from the side as if we’ve changed the vector are untrue. There is one reality, that Armenia is protecting its independence and sovereignty. Whenever lied to, it notes and raises it. When it disagrees with something it speaks about it. Whenever it has its own assessment of any given organization, it voices it. This doesn’t mean that we are severing or must severe our relations with any state. Same goes for Russia,” Simonyan told reporters.

Asked about the CSTO, Simonyan said the military bloc must revise itself and understand whether it exists at all. 

“If it exists, then it must understand what it failed to do, what it was supposed to do, and what it takes for the record,” Simonyan said, referring to the CSTO's inaction during the Azeri attacks on Armenia. 

Asked to verify media reports suggesting PM Pashinyan has instructed government officials to activate ties with Russia, the Speaker said “The report is untrue.”