Pashinyan threatened to shut down Russian TV channels in Armenia and refused to attend Putin’s inauguration and the Moscow parade

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan threatened to shut down Russian TV channels “if they do not respect the citizens of Armenia and the Armenian state.”

  “We are ready to ask and demand many times, but if it doesn’t work out, we’ll have to turn it off. If these requests are not fulfilled, it is impossible for the media, from any country, to continue broadcasting on the territory of Armenia,” Pashinyan said at a press conference in Yerevan.

In March 2024, the Armenian authorities banned the broadcast of the television programs “Sunday Evening with Vladimir Solovyov” and “Evening with Vladimir Solovyov.”

Pashinyan also refused to attend today’s inauguration of Russian President Vladimir Putin and the Victory Parade in Moscow.

“I received an invitation to the inauguration from Erdogan, but I didn’t seem to receive it from Putin. As for the parade in Moscow, I took part last year. I don’t remember such a practice that any other leader of Armenia participated in the May 9 events in Moscow every year. Or even the leader of some other country. Don’t think this is strange,” said the Armenian prime minister.

According to Pashinyan, there are many accumulated problems in relations with Russia, and they are being voiced. He also spoke about his vision of “real Armenia”: in the regional environment this is the deepening of good neighborly relations with Iran and Georgia, “reducing and eliminating hostility” with Turkey and Azerbaijan.

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