Alen Simonyan attempting to give traditional Armenian hospitality a  `toxic political tint` - Maria Zakharova 

ArmInfo.  Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova called Armenian Security  Council Secretary Alen Simonyan's statements about the republic's  readiness to accept a new wave of Russian citizens seeking to avoid  being sent to the front provocative.  Zakharova, commenting on  Simonyan's statements in an interview with Dozhd, stated that Moscow  naturally took notice of this interview by the recently appointed  Secretary of the Armenian Security Council, which was openly hostile  to Russia.

"During his tenure as Chairman of the National Assembly, he regularly  made controversial statements, including on Russian-Armenian  relations. This time, during a live broadcast with a journalist and  foreign agent, the newly appointed Secretary of the Security Council  succumbed to a deliberately provocative question, drawing him into  speculation, inspired by the Ukrainian junta and its Western backers,  about an alleged possible mobilization in our country, which has been  repeatedly refuted by Russian officials," the Russian diplomat noted.

At the same time, she regretfully noted that the trend of  representatives of official Yerevan is continuing to issue public  statements that undermine bilateral cooperation with Moscow. "We  consider Simonyan's statements provocative. They essentially  encourage Russian citizens to commit illegal acts and lend a toxic  political tint to traditional Armenian hospitality. We see these  comments by Simonyan, who during his visit to Russia in February 2026  spoke extensively about the importance-including for Armenia-of  developing Russian-Armenian ties, as further evidence of the  republic's authorities' desire to serve the West and the Kyiv  regime," Zakharova said in a comment published on the Russian Foreign  Ministry's website.