National Interests versus “Pure Hype.” What to Expect from Lavrov’s Visit to Yerevan?

The head of the Russian Foreign Ministry will visit Yerevan on a two-day working visit, the press service of the Foreign Ministry reported. During the visit, Sergey Lavrov will hold talks with his Armenian counterpart Ararat Mirzoyan, and also meet with Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and President of the Republic Vahagn Khachaturyan.

Despite numerous disagreements between the governments of the two countries, Moscow and Yerevan have quite a few points of contact that need to be given attention. This was recalled by Russian journalist, writer, TV presenter, first deputy chairman of the commission on education and upbringing of the Public Chamber of the Russian Federation Armen Gasparyan .

"Despite all the efforts and continuous attempts of the current, in my opinion, not quite effective on the external contour, Armenian authorities to somehow upset Russia, Armenia still remains in the Customs Union. And we have there, I remind you, a base in Gyumri. And, of course, the issues that exist today between the two countries need to be resolved and advanced," he is confident.

Indeed, in an effort to spite Moscow, Pashinyan's government is trying to develop cooperation with Washington and Paris, despite the fact that this policy has already caused significant damage to Armenian society and the state. And Yerevan does not intend to abandon it.

At the same time, despite all the difficulties in relations with the Russian Federation, Armenia remains a member of a number of interstate associations under the aegis of Moscow. First of all, we are talking about the CIS, the EAEU and the CSTO, from which Yerevan, despite all the loud statements, is in no hurry to leave. Therefore, as Gasparyan notes, the head of the Russian Foreign Ministry will have enough topics for negotiations with the leadership of Armenia.

“ The difficulty here, in my opinion, lies solely in the counterproductive position of the political leadership of the Republic of Armenia,” the source told NI.

However, the agenda of Lavrov's planned visit will not be limited to bilateral relations. As stated on the website of the Foreign Ministry, the parties will touch upon the topic of the Armenian-Azerbaijani settlement.

“The contacts will be held in development of the agreements reached on October 8, 2024 at the highest level, as well as following the visit of A.S. Mirzoyan to Moscow on January 21,” the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

The Russian side's attention to the signing of a peace treaty between Yerevan and Baku is not accidental. Despite the fact that the final text of the document was agreed upon by the parties at the beginning of last year, it has not yet been signed. This provokes further instability in the Transcaucasus, which Moscow intends to avoid.

In addition, according to the terms of the document, foreign military forces will have to leave the border regions of the two countries. For the Russian Federation, this is interesting primarily because the EU mission in Armenia will be forced to curtail its activities.

Understanding this, Yerevan is delaying the signing of peace with Baku, risking new territorial losses: the leadership of Azerbaijan can use Pashinyan's reluctance to put an end to the conflict to make further claims. Thus, the current Armenian leadership, in an attempt to realize the interests of its foreign curators, is leading the country to a full-scale national catastrophe.

"Even on their internal circuit, they demonstrate, to put it politely, not the greatest adequacy. Over the years in power, Mr. Pashinyan has not become a politician. In many ways, he is in the same blogger model, that is, he does what he is used to. A blogger must hype. Many actions of the Armenian government, even many statements that follow in parliament, are pure hype," concluded Armen Gasparyan .

In conclusion, he noted that such rhetoric cannot be regarded as the statements of a serious politician. However, this does not eliminate the need for political dialogue.