VIDEO. ‘I’m not going to respond to some secretary, that’s not my level’: Alen Simonyan on Zakharova

I wouldn’t call it tension; I would describe it as a situation where there are questions and no clear answers. This was stated by the President of the National Assembly, Alen Simonyan, during a conversation with NEWS.am on September 6, commenting on the recent tensions observed in Armenian-Russian relations.

“The questions are the following: is the Russian Federation prepared to fulfill the commitments taken under their president's signature, namely, the unobstructed operation of the Lachin corridor? Our 120,000 compatriots are in a hostage-like situation there. According to the announcement on November 9, the Lachin corridor should be 5 km wide under the control of Russian troops. Is that currently the case? No, it is not, and it is evident that we have a question to our Russian partners about whether they will continue to fulfill their obligations, whether they are even capable of doing so, and most importantly, whether they want to fulfill their obligations. This is the tension,” the Speaker of the National Assembly said.

He declined to respond to a recent statement made by Maria Zakharova, a representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry, who described his statements as “something resembling a tantrum.”

“I am not going to respond to some secretary of a department, which I believe is not my level. There is a Foreign Ministry for that, there is an external department; let them respond. I do not consider that I and the deputy head of the body you mentioned are the same person to talk. Let her drown in her own miseries,” he added.