Tigran Avinyan's Office Confirms Meeting with Foreign Ministry Officials but Demands Denial of Details

The office of Acting Deputy Prime Minister Tigran Avinyan has responded to a publication in the press from June 8 regarding a meeting with the heads of departments at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, confirming that such a meeting took place but demanding denial of the information about the content of the meeting.

On June 8, 'Factinfo' reported that Acting Prime Minister Tigran Avinyan gathered the heads of the foreign ministry's departments to convince them not to revolt, claiming that Nikol Pashinyan was not to blame and placing all responsibility on Russia.

Specifically, according to our source, Avinyan allegedly stated that the issue of demarcation and delimitation was being pushed by the Russians and attempted to bribe the heads of departments by offering them positions as deputy ministers and later as minister. However, the officials of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs remained steadfast, declaring that they had significant diplomatic experience and were well aware that this idea did not originate from the Russians, and none of them were ready to enter an illegal process of delimitation and demarcation. They also indicated that no one was willing to be bribed with the position of deputy minister or minister, which could lead to criminal liability for treason.

The office of the Deputy Prime Minister received a response stating that they demand a denial of the publication while confirming that such a meeting indeed took place. Respecting the requirements of the law, we publish the letter received from the Deputy Prime Minister's office in full: 'Essentially, aside from the mention of the fact of the meeting of Acting Deputy Prime Minister Tigran Avinyan with the leadership of the Foreign Ministry, everything else in the mentioned publication is fabrication and misinformation. We hereby propose to publish a denial in this regard,' read the letter from the Deputy Prime Minister's office.

The office did not specify what exactly constitutes misinformation, nor did it indicate what topics were discussed during the meeting. It should be noted that no official statement was issued.