By Mark Dovich
Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan met with Russian President Vladimir Putin for talks in Moscow on Tuesday, though neither side has said they reached any tangible agreements at the meeting. It was the fourth time this year that the two leaders have met face to face.
Following the talks Pashinyan said that, “These frequent meetings testify to the active pace of our relations and a shared understanding of the importance of our allied strategic relations,” according to TASS, a Russian state-run news agency.
The Armenian leader further added that, “The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict remains unsettled and it is clear that Russia plays a key role in the settlement of the conflict and in general in ensuring security in our region.”
Though neither government has provided details, Pashinyan said in a tweet, written in Russian, that the two leaders “discussed both the bilateral agenda and the situation in the region.”
He pledged to “continue contacts [with Russia] to implement the agreements reached” and called the meeting “very productive.” It is unclear exactly what agreements Pashinyan was referring to.
In a press release published a day before the meeting, Pashinyan’s office said that “the parties will discuss issues related to the implementation of the trilateral statements of November 9, 2020 and January 11, 2021, as well as further steps to strengthen stability, resumption of economic ties and current developments in the region.”
November 9 refers to the Russia-brokered ceasefire signed by Armenia and Azerbaijan to end hostilities in and around Karabakh after last year’s fighting, while January 11 refers to an agreement establishing a high-level working group of Armenian, Azerbaijani, and Russian officials to implement the ceasefire.
The Kremlin’s pre-meeting press release had very similar language, but added that Pashinyan and Putin were expected to “discuss topical matters related to developing bilateral ties and interaction within integration associations in the Eurasian space.”
Meanwhile Armenian Defense Minister Arshak Karapetyan met Monday with his Russian counterpart, Sergei Shoigu. Details for those talks are scant as well.
A terse statement from the Armenian Defense Ministry said that, “A number of issues related to the Armenian-Russian cooperation in the defence sphere, the Armenian-Azerbaijani border situation and regional security were discussed.”
On Wednesday Patriarch Kirill, the head of the Russian Orthodox Church, held a meeting with Catholicos Garegin II, the leader of the Armenian Apostolic Church, and Allahshukur Pashazadeh, the Grand Mufti of the Caucasus and Azerbaijan’s top cleric.
The Russian church leader “has repeatedly noted that the Russian Orthodox Church is ready to participate in the peacemaking process,” reported RIA Novosti, a Russian state-run news agency.
The visit to Moscow by Armenia’s top political, military, and religious leaders comes amid a flurry of diplomatic activity by Yerevan.
In the past week alone, Pashinyan has received high-level delegations from Georgia, India, and Iran, including Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Gharibashvili and Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar. Jaishankar’s visit to Yerevan was the first ever by an Indian foreign minister.
High-profile allies of Pashinyan have been making similar moves. Last Monday, Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan traveled to Tehran to meet with his Iranian counterpart, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian.
On the same day, Alen Simonyan, the head of the Armenian parliament, visited Moscow for talks with Sergei Lavrov, the Russian foreign minister, and Valentina Matviyenko, the head of the Federation Council, Russia’s upper legislative chamber.
Read more: The view from Yerevan on Belarus-Russia integration
