Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov arrived in Armenian on a two-day visit on Tuesday, in his first trip to the South Caucasus country in roughly three years.
Ahead of Lavrov’s meeting with his Armenian counterpart Ararat Mirzoyan on Wednesday, a small group of protesters staged a rally outside of the ministry’s building. The protest was organized by Armenia’s European Party that supports the country’s EU and NATO integration. The protesters carried Armenian and EU flags, as well as posters depicting Lavrov and Russian President Vladimir Putin as “killers” in an apparent reference to Kremlin’s war of invasion in Ukraine. A photo circulated in Telegram channels shows a banner with Putin’s portrait and a word “killer” underneath it hanging over Yerevan’s Kiyvskiy bridge.
During his visit, Lavrov is also scheduled to meet with Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and President Vaagn Khachatryan, according to the Russian Foreign Ministry’s statement.
The sides are expected to discuss a range of issues related to the Moscow-Yerevan ties, including cooperation within the Russian-led organizations, coordination of positions on global platforms, particularly the United Nations, the process of normalisiation of Armenia’s relations between with neighbouring Azerbaijan and Turkey.
Of special interest are discussions around Armenia’s intention to join the European Union, which contradicts its membership in the Russian-led economic bloc - Eurasian Economic Union.
The visit comes amid the steady deterioration of ties between the two former allies since 2022 after Russia’s failure to back Armenia in the war with neighbouring Azerbaijan. Since then, Yerevan has effectively suspended its participation in the Moscow-led Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) military bloc.
Lavrov's last visit to Yerevan took place in June 2022. The context of the Russian Foreign Minister’s visit this week is not that of close alliance any more, while the atmosphere in Yerevan is less cordial.
