“The situation in the region remains tense” – Pashinyan at meeting with Putin

Pashinyan-Putin meeting in Bishkek

Negotiations between the Prime Minister of Armenia and the President of Russia were held in Bishkek during a meeting of the Supreme Eurasian Economic Council. Only one bilateral meeting was scheduled – Pashinyan–Putin. Recently, the leaders of Armenia and Russia have been meeting quite often, but there is less and less information about what they are discussing.

Armenian media noted that Pashinyan approached the hall where the negotiations were to be held late. Putin was forced to wait for him for about a minute and managed to talk with his assistant during this time.

All that is known about the negotiations in Bishkek at the time of publication.

• Incidents in the Lachin corridor. Commentary: what to expect from Baku
• “The Russian security model exhausted itself long ago.” Opinion from Yerevan
• “CSTO fiasco”: military bloc decided not to assist Armenia
• “Staying with Russia is a greater risk for Armenia than alliance with the US.” Opinion

Pashinyan: “Nagorno-Karabakh resolution remains the main issue in the region”

Pashinyan told Putin about this before the start of negotiations, while the cameras were still rolling:

“Unfortunately, the situation in the region remains tense. […] We see an increase in tension in Nagorno-Karabakh, in the zone of responsibility of Russian peacekeepers. I am sure you are informed that even the Lachin corridor [the only road connecting NK with Armenia, a group of Azerbaijanis in civilian clothes claiming to be environmentalists blocked it for three hours on December 3], was recently blocked, and there are concerns in Nagorno-Karabakh about this . I hope today we will be able to discuss all the important issues of regional security.”

What Pashinyan said further on this issue and how Putin reacted to these statements have not yet been reported.

Putin: “Russia remains Armenia’s leading trading partner”

In response to Pashinyan’s worried statements about regional security, Putin spoke of Russia’s economic importance to Armenia:

“Russia remains Armenia’s leading trading partner. Over 30% of Armenia’s trade turnover is with Russia. The Russian Federation is also one of the leading investors in the economy of the republic – this is about 40% of investments. In the first 10 months of this year, the growth in trade amounted to 67%. This is a serious and positive indicator. However, there are always questions.”

Pashinyan-Putin meeting in Bishkek