Armenia’s ambassador to Russia has visited two Russian cities reportedly shelled by Ukraine after Moscow condemned other Armenian officials for making pro-Ukrainian statements during a recent trip to a town near Kyiv.
Ambassador Vagharshak Harutyunyan travelled to Belgorod, a city close to the Ukrainian border, early this week to inspect damage caused by the shelling. He offered his condolences to the families of 17 residents of a local apartment block reportedly killed on May 12.
“Civilians, families are killed, which causes pain,” Russia’s official TASS news agency quoted Harutyunyan as saying. “Armenia is interested in the quick establishment of peace. All this affects Armenia as well. We sincerely want all this to stop.”
The envoy, who has kept a low profile throughout his tenure, then proceeded to the city of Kursk, the capital of the eponymous region also bordering eastern Ukraine. He discussed with local officials ways of deepening the region’s economic ties with Armenia.
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In late May, Armenia’s ambassador to Ukraine, Vladimir Karapetyan, and the chief executive of Yerevan’s northern Nor Nork district, Tigran Ter-Margaryan, travelled to the town of Bucha amid a continuing deterioration of Russian-Armenian relations. They met with the town’s mayor, delivered humanitarian aid to local hospitals and lit candles at a memorial to Bucha residents killed following Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
“The city of Yerevan and Nor Nork district will always support Bucha and other communities affected by Russian aggression,” declared Ter-Margaryan.
The Russian Foreign Ministry sent afterwards a note of protest to Yerevan. The ministry spokeswoman, Maria Zakharova, described on June 9 Karapetian’s and Ter-Margaryan’ s actions as an “overtly unfriendly step on the part of official Yerevan.”
Gegham Manukyan, an Armenian opposition parliamentarian, on Thursday scoffed at Harutiunian’s trip to Belgorod and Kursk, saying that Yerevan “belatedly realized” the recklessness of the Bucha visit and tried to placate the Russians.
“Mustard after dinner,” Manukyan said, reciting a Russian proverb that refers to overdue and useless actions.
“The visit to Bucha was very symbolic of the whole philosophy behind Armenia’s foreign policy of the last six years,” he told RFE/RL’s Armenian Service. “The head of a Yerevan district gets to decide Armenia’s foreign policy.”
Shirak Torosyan, a pro-government lawmaker, denied any connection between the two visits. “If we went to Bucha and Belgorod, it means that both visits were necessary,” he said.
Armenian leaders were until recently careful not to openly criticize the Russian invasion. Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian voiced such criticism in February, underscoring Yerevan’s deepening rift with Moscow.