Russian Ambassador: New Realities Require Revision of Approaches Towards Russian-Armenian Relations

Russian Ambassador: New Realities Require Revision of Approaches Towards Russian-Armenian Relations
YEREVAN (Arka) –The latest dramatic events and the changing realities require an adjustment of the Russian-Armenian relations, Russian Ambassador to Armenia Sergei Kopyrkin said today when speaking at a forum titled “Armenia and Russia: Imperative of a New Strategy”.

According to the ambassador, it is worth thinking about how to eliminate the growing imbalance between the deep strategic relations between Russia and Armenia in such areas as defense, security, economy, and those external vectors that prevail in such important issues as ways of further development and the value orientations of the society.

Kopyrkin pointed out profound and dynamic changes occurring in the world, in the South Caucasus region and in the broader areas surrounding this region.

“In fact, behind these sometimes dramatic events there is an obvious tendency towards the formation of a new world order. Now various forces, powers, blocs of powers, alliances of powers are fighting for positions in this new, not yet fully known world order,” he said…

The ambassador noted that the competition is growing taking sometimes very dramatic forms that are not always acceptable from the point of view of the traditional diplomacy of international relations. According to him, the struggle is becoming multifaceted developing into what is called “hybrid war,” a new term, which is still difficult to fully understand.

“Under these conditions, relations between traditional allies, relations that have been tested for centuries, become even more important. The majority of the population of Russia and Armenia feels the value of these relations,” he stressed.

Kopyrkin said that this is the common property of Russia and Armenia, which helps and will help the countries to more successfully defend their interests in this difficult world.

“We all very vividly remember those dramatic events that took place a year ago (the war in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict zone unleashed by Azerbaijan together with Turkey). It was Russia that in that difficult period for Armenia and the Armenian people was next to Armenia, gave her a shoulder, and in general, in practical terms, Russia was the only one who was together with Armenia,” he said.

According to Kopyrkin, now various partners from different regions of the world are trying to get something of their own from the new, changing regional layouts, but a year ago “everyone was mostly modest and shyly silent.”

“A friend in need is a friend indeed. That complex of very deep bilateral relations, rooted in history which meet the challenges of our time, is our common heritage,” he said.