I Don't Think Zakharova Can Speak About Armenian Officials with That Vocabulary: Khandanian

I don't think that the official representative of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs can speak about Armenian officials with that vocabulary; it is unacceptable. This was stated today, on September 7, by the Chairman of the National Assembly's Foreign Relations Committee, Sargsyan Khandanian, during a conversation with journalists.

“I hope that Russian officials at high and higher levels will draw conclusions and take steps to ensure that the discourse at lower levels is more appropriate,” he said.

In response to a question about whether it is appropriate to refer to the MFA representative as a "secretary," Khandanian responded, “You know, various formulations can be given, it’s neither right nor wrong. I don’t think this is the beginning of the deterioration of relations. There are numerous issues in our relations that have not received answers. We expect to receive answers.”

“There are questions posed to Russia as a strategic ally, and Armenia has not received answers to these questions for a long time,” he added.

We remind you that earlier, the President of the National Assembly, Alen Simonyan, did not wish to respond to the statement made the day before by the representative of the Russian MFA, Maria Zakharova, who referred to his statements as “something resembling nonsense.” Simonyan said, “I do not intend to respond to some secretary of some agency, who, I believe, is not at my level.”

Notably, later, Maria Zakharova responded on her page to Alen Simonyan's statement, saying, “Don't be offended; this person, I'm sure, has 'spit' without thinking.”