Lavrov on Kocharian's Arrest: Armenian Leadership is Addressing Other Issues

Another president under investigation is Sarkisyan, who was Minister of Defense during Kocharian's presidency and later became president himself. The position of our Ministry of Foreign Affairs is that we are guided by the interests of the Armenian people. This statement was made by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in response to a question from RBC regarding the two-month detainment of former Armenian president Robert Kocharian and his son.

“We see how the interests of the Armenian people have been closely intertwined with our national interests over the centuries. And always, for very long periods, we have been together, in solidarity with each other. Russia has repeatedly come to the aid of the Armenian people and the leadership of Armenia in difficult situations. These interests, of course, should prevail. But now, representatives of the current leadership in Yerevan are guided by other issues,” Lavrov stated.

A direction towards the European Union has been announced, and a law has been adopted to initiate the process of joining the EU. Countries of the Eurasian Economic Union have called on the Armenian leadership at the May summit to hold a referendum to determine whether Armenians want to join the EU or remain in the Eurasian Economic Union. In my opinion, this is a completely justified demand. The norms of one organization are incompatible with the norms of the other. This has been discussed many times before.

Just days ago, I read that Mr. Pashinyan said that a referendum will be discussed when the EU application is submitted, a response is received, and a ‘roadmap’ for that accession is prepared; that is when the referendum will be. In my opinion, this speaks of a lack of great confidence in Armenian voters and the Armenian people. It is essential to demonstrate a fair choice—what you choose between joining the EU and how you live now, when over the past three years the trade volume has exceeded $6 billion, and in one year it has also reached $12 billion, and the country has developed thanks to the Eurasian Economic Union,” Lavrov noted.