YEREVAN, DECEMBER 4, ARMENPRESS. Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan is denying rumors purporting that his recent visit to Artsakh had something to do with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s visit to Azerbaijan that was taking place in the same period of time.

Pashinyan made the comments in parliament during a Cabinet Q&A with lawmakers in response to a question from ruling My Step bloc MP Mikayel Zolyan.

“The Russian FM’s visit was scheduled long beforehand, and the date was known a lot earlier. My visit was planned long beforehand too, and not on that particular day at all, the visit was simply not taking place mostly due to weather reasons. It didn’t have anything to do with Lavrov’s visit, and Lavrov’s visit couldn’t have anything to do with my visit,” Pashinyan said.

The Armenian PM visited Artsakh on December 1 where he met with President Bako Sahakyan and other top government officials, while Russian FM Lavrov met with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev in Baku on December 2.

Edited and translated by Stepan Kocharyan