Gurgen Arsenyan, the new ambassador of Armenia to Russia, made a number of anti-Russian statements as an MP. Nevertheless, after being appointed ambassador, he announced that, as a diplomat, he will limit himself to expressing his domestic political stance, Svobodnaya Pressa writes.
“In fact, the nature of interstate relations is determined, first, by actions. And on the part of Yerevan, they are in no way allied or partnership-like with Moscow,” the article said.
As noted, Gurgen Arsenyan cooperated with several parties during his political activity. He is a pragmatic figure who often made quite direct statements that caused a sharp reaction from the part of Armenian society with oppositional views, for example, about the need to normalize relations between Yerevan and Turkey or that there is no need to take risks for the sake of the Armenian community in Artsakh.
If a person having such a biography like his is appointed ambassador, it may mean that Pashinyan’s team expects a continuation of complicated and unstable relations with Moscow. Most likely, Nikol Pashinyan does not totally break off relations with Moscow by the understanding that at this moment such a step may have extremely serious, economic consequences for Yerevan. In addition, despite the interest shown by a number of Western actors, (first of all, France and the U.S.) in Armenia, it is likely that Yerevan assumes that the concrete proposals and guarantees of such states are not enough to radically sever relations with Moscow.
