“There can be differences of opinion and evaluation between us, that’s normal,” Kopyrkin told reporters. “The volume of our relations is such that there may arise practical issues on which the parties have differing positions. But on the whole, I am confident that what unites us remains and will be reinforced. Our relations were, are and will be allied.”
Those relations have deteriorated in the last several months mainly because of what Yerevan sees as Moscow’s lack of support for its main South Caucasus ally in the conflict with Azerbaijan.
The rift between the two nations deepened further late last month after Armenia’s Constitutional Court gave the green light for parliamentary ratification of the International Criminal Court’s founding treaty. The ruling followed an arrest warrant issued by the ICC for Russian President Vladimir Putin over war crimes allegedly committed by Russia in Ukraine.
Moscow warned on March 27 that recognition of The Hague tribunal’s jurisdiction would have “extremely negative” consequences for Russian-Armenian relations. Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian’s government has since given no indications that it will press ahead with sending the treaty to the Armenian parliament for ratification.
Pashinian and Putin spoke by phone on Friday for the fourth time in two months. According to the Armenian readout of the call, they discussed regional security, bilateral ties and “other developments taking place in them.”
Pashinian phoned Putin three days after meeting in Yerevan with Alexei Overchuk, a Russian deputy prime minister mediating negotiations on restoring transport links between Armenia and Azerbaijan.
In Kopyrkin’s words, Pashinian and Overchuk held “constructive” talks on the “entire complex of issues related to the region and their settlement.” The diplomat did not elaborate.
