Monday, June 10 2024 20:13

ArmInfo. Armenian-Russian relations are experiencing a new round of cooling. The next reason  for this was not the visit of the Armenian delegation to the Ukrainian city of Bucha, but the official statements made there by a mediocre Armenian official, the head of the Yerevan administrative district of Nor-Nork, Tigran Margaryan, addressed to Russia. The latter, representing a local government body, arrogated to itself the  right to broadcast on behalf of the state, declaring that "Armenia stands in solidarity with Ukraine in the fight against Russian aggression."

Taking into account the sensitivity of the Ukrainian issue in the  Armenian-Russian relations, which have been so difficult in the last  period, a sharp reaction from Moscow was obvious and expected. The  official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria  Zakharova, stated that Moscow "considers the visit to the city of  Butch by the heads of the capital's administrative district of  Nor-Nork, Tigran Ter-Margaryan, and the Armenian diplomatic mission,  Vladimir Karapetyan, as an openly unfriendly step on the part of  official Yerevan."

Considering the fact that the words about solidarity with Ukraine  were presented by the Ukrainian side, and nothing was said about this  in the Armenian version of the release, suspicions arose that the  words of the Armenian mid-level officials could have been taken out  of context, or slightly distorted. For it seemed that even the head  of a community at his level must follow the minimum diplomatic  canons, and not pretend to be a hero where this is not required.

Moreover, the official's self-esteem is simply off the charts, just  as it has been off the charts since that sharp decline in the level  of interstate relations. He decided to teach a literacy lesson to the  official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry, drawing  attention to the fact that earlier in one of her statements she could  not distinguish the RA parliamentary delegation from the  administrative district of Yerevan. He then accused the Russian side  of trying to interfere in the activities of the Republic party, of  which the official is a member. But he decided not to limit himself  to this either. "At my meetings in Bucha, I became convinced that  Russia will not be able to defeat Ukraine. Everyone in Ukraine  considers this war a struggle for independence and sovereignty,"  Ter-Margaryan said.v

ArmInfo tried to clarify with the Armenian Foreign Ministry whether  this statement by Ter-Margaryan is the official position of Yerevan,  and since he allowed himself to do this, whether the country's  Foreign Ministry will have its own explanations. But the editors'  appeals remained unanswered.

I would like to hope that on the sidelines of the highest political  authorities of Armenia, Margaryan will be asked not to "shine" where  "every cricket should know his backbone" and to make statements  exclusively on behalf of the district administration.