Armenia cannot afford to be sanctioned over cooperation with Russia - PM Pashinyan

The Head of the Armenian Government, Nikol Pashinyan, said his country could not afford to fall under international sanctions due to its cooperation with the Russian Federation.

He said this in an interview with the Czech publication Respekt, Ukrinform reports with reference to Armenpress.

Pashinyan has noted that Armenia tries to be as transparent as possible as regards sanctioned goods. "We cooperate with the EU, U.S., and even with Russia itself," he said.

Pashinyan added that, after sanctions were imposed on Russia over the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, new logistics routes were created for many goods, including through the territory of Armenia.

"Wherever there is an opportunity, we are happy to meet Russia’s demand. Sanctions are our ‘red line.’ And we say this very clearly to Russia: we do not want to harm you but we cannot afford to fall under sanctions ourselves," said Pashinyan.

As reported earlier, Armenia’s ruling party has neither the desire nor the intention to detain the President of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Putin, should he arrive in the country, despite the fact that the Constitutional Court recognized the obligations established by the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court as consistent with the country's constitution.