Zatulin: Pashinyan was eager to get back to Russia because he  actually lost the elections

ArmInfo. Pashinyan was eager to get back to Russia because, in reality,  he lost the elections. He repressed the opposition in the most brazen and shameless manner. And now he's using us to bankroll his own betrayal, that is, shifting Armenia from the EAEU to the European Union and pivoting toward the West. Konstantin Zatulin, First Deputy Chairman of the State Duma Committee on CIS Affairs, Eurasian Integration, and Relations with Compatriots, expressed this opinion  in an interview with Business Online.  

According to him, not everyone in Russia understands the meaning of  what's happening. Pashinyan will use his upcoming visit to  Yekaterinburg to prove Russia has no alternative but to tolerate his  actions, that everything is like water off a duck's back for him, no  matter what he does. In reality, the internal nature of our relations  is different. I'd like to point out that, excluding certain  unauthorized individuals, we haven't recognize the elections in  Armenia, nor have we offered our congratulations. We proceed from the  premise that the current government in Armenia is illegitimate,  although I would have liked this to be stated more decisively.

"We are, of course, forced to meet with those who have usurped power  there within certain formats the CIS, the Eurasian Union. However, we  must make it clear to Armenian society that they can't call black  white, as Pashinyan is attempting to do. Unfortunately, until the  very last moment, before the review of Armenia's accession law to the  European Union and the EU summit in Yerevan with Zelenskyy, there  remained doubts in at our highest circles regarding how to properly  structure our relations with the Armenian government," Zatulin noted.

The State Duma deputy considers this issue very important. "I believe  it is far more significant than relations with any other CIS country.  Because we're not simply talking about relations between states, but  about relations between peoples who, throughout history, certainly  over the last 200-300 years, have relied heavily on each other. The  influence of Armenians in Russia is far greater than that of any  other people in the CIS, who are less dispersed and successful. In  fact, the influence of the Armenian diaspora is comparable to the  global influence of the Jewish diaspora.  Yet, for some reason, this  has not become a guiding factor for those who shape our policy and  prefer to go to Baku to play golf," the Russian parliamentarian  emphasized.