Kremlin reacts to possibility of Putin–Pashinyan talks

PanARMENIAN.Net - Contacts between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan are not yet planned, but they will have the opportunity to talk at an informal meeting of CIS leaders at the end of December, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Wednesday, November 29.

“At the moment, no,” the official said in response to a question about whether there are plans for a telephone conversation between Putin and Pashinyan.

At the same time, he recalled that at the end of December a traditional pre-New Year event – an informal meeting of CIS leaders – will take place in St. Petersburg. Nevertheless, this summit will not be purely festive, Peskov noted.

“This will be a working event with a working agenda. And if Mr. Pashinyan attends - and he is expected to just like everyone else - then there will be a great opportunity to talk. Unless the heads of state consider it necessary to do this earlier. It will be their decision in that case,” Peskov said.

A CSTO summit in Minsk on November 23 took place against the backdrop of deteriorating relations between the organization and Armenia. Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan previously accused the CSTO of failing to provide assistance to Yerevan during Azerbaijan’s aggression in May 2021 and September 2022. Against this background, Yerevan asked the CSTO to remove the issue of assistance to the country from the agenda, and Pashinyan himself informed the President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko that he did not intend to go to Minsk. The Foreign Minister and Defense Minister of Armenia did not attend the CSTO events before the summit. At the same time, Yerevan has declared it is not going to leave the CSTO.