Russia Understands That Open Borders Are Beneficial for It Too, Says Khandanyan

Russia is attempting to engage in dialogue with the United States, said the head of the Armenian National Assembly's Foreign Relations Committee, Sargsyan Khandanyan, in an interview with CivilNet's correspondent. This statement was made in response to a question about Russia's firm stance on the EU observers versus its cooperative stance on TRIPP.

“I believe one of the factors here is that one side is the European Union and the other is the United States. We see that Russia is trying to establish some dialogue with the United States. This supports our argument made on August 8, when the declaration was signed; our opposition and notable figures from Russian television criticized this, claiming there would be harsh reactions from Russia and Iran. We explained that, on the contrary, this is also beneficial for Russia,” Khandanyan said.

Referring to Russia's participation in TRIPP, Khandanyan stated that any involvement of a third party must have the agreement of both the Armenian and American sides. “These issues are resolved through negotiations. If such a request is made by Russia or any Russian company, it will be placed on the negotiation table and a decision will be made,” Khandanyan added.