Two leaders of the opposition Armenian Revolutionary Federation (Dashnaktsutyun) met with Russia’s ambassador in Yerevan on Thursday to discuss Russian-Armenian relations and regional security.
In a statement released on Friday, Dashnaktsutyun said Hagop Der Khatchadurian and Armen Rustamian also discussed with Ambassador Sergey Kopyrkin “other issues of mutual interest.” It did not give any details.
Dashnaktsutyun has traditionally supported Armenia’s close ties with Russia. The pan-Armenian party reaffirmed its foreign policy orientation at a January congress in Nagorno-Karabakh which elected the new head and members of its decision-making Bureau.
The Bureau is headed by Der Khatchadurian, a Canadian Armenian, and also comprises 12 other members, including Rustamian. The latter has long been one of the party’s top figures in Armenia.
Dashnaktsutyun was part of Armenia’s former government ousted during last spring’s “velvet revolution.” It received two ministerial posts in a new government formed by Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian in May. Pashinian sacked his Dashnaktsutyun-affiliated ministers in October, accusing their party of secretly collaborating with former President Serzh Sarkisian’s Republican Party.
Dashnaktsutyun has since been increasingly critical of Pashinian’s government. It failed to win any seats in the Armenian parliament in snap general elections held in December.
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