Pashinian said this when he spoke to the Czech TV channel CNN Prima News during a visit to Prague in early May. The Armenian government’s press office released the transcript of his interview late on Thursday as he took part in a summit of the European Political Community attended by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy.
“We are not Russia’s ally in the war with Ukraine, and our feeling from that war is anxiety because it directly influences all our relationships,” Pashinian told the broadcaster. “In the West, they first and foremost note that we are an ally of Russia, while in Russia, they see that we are not their ally in the Ukraine war. So we are not anybody’s ally in this situation, which means that we are vulnerable.”
“We took note of it,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, reacting to Pashinian’s remarks. “This is an important statement. We know that there are certain nuances in Armenia's approaches to the conflict over Ukraine. We take them into account, we know them.”
Armenia has not publicly condemned or backed the Russian invasion of Ukraine. It has repeatedly abstained from UN General Assembly resolutions accusing Moscow of military aggression.
Pashinian complained on Wednesday that the escalating conflict in Ukraine is narrowing Armenia’s “room for maneuver.” He did not elaborate.
Artur Khachatrian, an Armenian opposition parliamentarian, claimed on Friday that Yerevan is under growing Western pressure to take sides in the conflict.
“Russia can’t say openly, ‘Make a choice: either you are on our side or on the opposite side,’” Khachatrian told RFE/RL’s Armenian Service.
In his words, Russian President Vladimir Putin only hinted that Armenia is taking advantage of the Western sanctions against Russia during a Eurasian Economic Union (EEU) summit in Moscow last week.
“It will be difficult for us to keep up with Armenia … Their GDP growth is more than 12 percent [in 2022.] This is a very high, serious indicator,” said Putin.
The double-digit growth was primarily driven by soaring trade with and cash flows from Russia. Armenian exports to Russia nearly tripled to $2.4 billion last year. Goods manufactured in third countries and re-exported from Armenia to Russia are believed to have accounted for most of that gain.
Pashinian insisted earlier this year that Armenia is not helping Russia evade the Western sanctions.