Zakharova: The attempts to stir up enmity and hatred between our nations are unacceptable to us

Russian Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Maria Zakharova
addressed the participants of the first Armenian-Russian media forum in
Armenia. She called on them not to respond to provocations, noting that the
common future of the two brotherly peoples will withstand
everything.  

She noted that the attempts to stir up enmity and hatred
between the two nations by blaming Russia for every misfortune striking
Armenia, is unacceptable to them.

“It is an odious move to “blacklist” First Deputy Chairman
of the Committee of the State Duma for the CIS and Relations with Russian
Nationals Abroad Konstantin Zatulin, editor-in-chief of RT M. Simonyan, expert
on international affairs Andranik Mihranyan, media proprietor A. Gabrelyanov,
as well as to refuse the Chairman of the Russian Association of Friendship and
Cooperation with Armenia, Viktor Krivopuskov, entry into Armenia in August,
2023.

You know, the fact that our leading media representatives and
political scientists — who did not violate the law, but merely expressed their
personal opinions — are so “unwelcome” in Armenia, adversely affects the
cooperation between Russia and Armenian, especially in the media sector. In
fact, what took both the Russian and the Armenian media by surprise, was the
arrest of Sputnik Armenia radio reporter A. Gevorgyan and blogger M. Badalyan,”
Zakharova said.

Zakharova noted that they are concerned about the increase
in the number of pro-Western media outlets in Armenia. 

“These media outlets aim is to discredit our country and our
relations. We have been witness to negative reports — often written in an
aggressive style — which question Russia’s constructive role in the region.
Rather delicate issues are given close media attention by pro-Western media
outlets; this is aimed at arousing public sentiments against Russia.

Moreover, they do not care a bit about the future of the
region. Their ultimate goal is to cause a rift between the two brotherly
peoples, to undermine security and stability merely to weaken Russia’s hold on
the region and to cause utter chaos in the region. In fact, Ukrain’s example
can serve to illustrate this point,” she said.