Prosperous Armenia deputy and chair of the National Assembly Standing Committee on Regional and Eurasian Integration, Mikayel Melkumyan, does not agree with the opinion that there are problems between Armenia and Russia. Representatives of several forces outside of parliament have warned him about this, using second President of Armenia Robert Kocharyan’s arrest as the basis. The deputy has based his own opinion on his permanent working relations with his Russian colleagues. “I don’t believe that the relations between the two countries can be determined based off of one or two instances. We have faced many difficulties, such as the April War, but every country serves its national and state interests,” Melkumyan said, adding that problems may arise regarding the Verin Lars transit point, but Armenia will continue its strategic relations with Russia because of its own national and state interests. Armenia has also chosen its path, which is the Eurasian Economic Union.
Mikayel Melkumyan also does not believe that relations between the two countries can become tense due to the private relations between their leaders, despite the fact that he has no information on the relationship between the Armenian Prime Minister and the Russian President.
The deputy was asked whether or not it is true that there were more constraints in the past when presenting Armenian interests and positions to Russian colleagues in comparison to now. Diplomatic representatives had made this observation.
The Armenian parliament had also recently discussed a draft on restricting Russian citizens from doing business in Armenia with Russiam driver’s licenses. Melkumyan believes that the opposite is true and that Armenian citizens are the ones who mainly drive taxis in Russia. The police has not presented data on how many Russian citizens do similar business in Armenia. But he does not agree with the view that Armenia is in a laughable situation. Mikayel Melkumyan believes that the law passed by the Russian Duma that prevented Armenians from doing business in Russia with Armenian driver’s licenses is a political move.
Read also
Nelly Grigoryan
