“Armenia is not just our partner, it’s our strategic ally, and we value that,” Putin told Armenian President Vahagn Khachaturian late on Friday during a meeting held on the sidelines of the Saint Petersburg International Economic Forum.
“We understand what is happening today in Armenia and around Armenia,” he said. “We are intent on developing our partnership relations. We are interested in a stable situation in the country which will guarantee progressive development.”
Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov similarly expressed hope last month that Armenia will enter a “period of stability” when he comment daily antigovernment protests launched by the Armenian opposition on May 1. Peskov said the protests aimed at toppling Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian are the country’s “internal affair.”
In his opening remarks at his first-ever meeting with Putin, Khachaturian said that Pashinian’s official visit to Russia in April had a “huge impact” on the political situation in Armenia by ending “some speculation” there.
“But it was clear how you received [Pashinian] here and what he felt when he toured [the Russian city of] Nizhny Novgorod,” Khachaturian said, seemingly alluding to speculation that Moscow is encouraging opposition groups to oust Pashinian.
“I am confident that our further relations will certainly develop. One should just help the leadership of the country, I mean Armenia, and, if there are some problems, root out those problems,” added the largely ceremonial head of state, who was elected by Armenia’s government-controlled parliament earlier this year.