Who is Deceiving Whom: The Mystery of Sputnik-V and the Latest Erroneous Report

The statement made by Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan on April 7 continues to be a topic of heated discussion. Recall that during a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, when asked if Sputnik-V is registered in Armenia, the Armenian Prime Minister responded affirmatively. However, Minister of Health Anahit Avanesyan refuted Pashinyan's claim yesterday, stating that no registrations of vaccines are currently taking place.

During a press conference, the minister explained, "Currently, there is no registration of vaccines taking place, but emergency use authorization has been granted for the Sputnik-V vaccine. The law has several mechanisms. One of those mechanisms is the authorization for the vaccine to be used." According to Avanesyan, being registered or receiving authorization for use at this stage is essentially the same.

It is understandable that the minister attempted to justify the Prime Minister’s statement through this play on words, but the fact is that the Prime Minister responded to the Russian President’s question without proper knowledge and said something that does not correspond to reality. It raises the question: Were the Prime Minister's officials unaware before his trip to Russia that coronavirus vaccines are not being registered? Why was he so confidently asserting that it was registered?

Does this mean that the Prime Minister has been misinformed once again? If so, who should be held accountable for misguiding the Prime Minister once more? The Prime Minister's spokesperson, Mane Gevorgyan, has gone completely silent, is not answering phone calls, and even is not responding to direct questions, while the Health Minister also did not respond to our calls.

In any case, it is worth noting that the situation became more unpleasant when Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin announced on April 9 that Sputnik V is already registered in 60 countries. The 'Zhoghovurd' newspaper, examining the list, found that among those countries are Belarus, Iran, Argentina, and Serbia.