Moscow watching situation developing around AAC with regret - Russian  FM

ArmInfo.  Moscow is watching the situation developing around the Armenian Apostolic Church (AAC) with regret. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov stated this at a press conference on the results of 2025.

"Speaker of the Armenian National Assembly Mr. Simonyan and, in a  recent interview, Prime Minister Pashinyan did not deny that hybrid  threats exist against Armenia from the Russian Federation. Hybrid  threats related to the situation in the Armenian Apostolic Church.  But for us, this can only cause bewilderment. Rapprochement with the  European Union is not without consequences-I can simply mention this  to you, since the EU constantly talks about hybrid threats generated  by the Russian Federation," the Russian Foreign Minister noted.

He added that the EU provides funding for this. In this vein, he  recalled that Armenia had recently received a 15 million euro tranche  and expressed confidence that the "Brussels bureaucracy" would force  its Armenian friends to earn every cent of this 15 million euro  tranche.

"By the way, in the context of Armenia, when they are trying to  convince Armenia to distance itself from Russia, none other than Kaja  Kallas stated that Moscow will act in Yerevan according to the  Moldovan scenario. If you recall, the Moldovan scenario involved  grossly rigged elections, which the Sandu regime in Moldova lost.  Receiving only 40% of the vote, it was only able to declare victory  after gross manipulation at polling stations in Europe," the Russian  Foreign Minister said, advising Armenians to seriously consider  Kallas's words.

As a reminder, in May 2025, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan  launched a broad anti-church campaign, demanding the resignation of  the Catholicos of All Armenians. As part of this campaign, anyone who  disagreed with the campaign, under various serious circumstances, was  imprisoned. Moreover, 10 bishops joined Pashinyan's demand. On  December 5, 2025, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan announced  the creation of a coordinating council to organize the reform process  of the Armenian Apostolic Church. He published a roadmap for  resolving this issue. And on the night of January 5, a framework  agreement on the creation of the council was signed by Nikol  Pashinyan and the 10 bishops who had joined his campaign. Moreover,  days earlier, it became known that one of the bishops who joined  Pashinyan's campaign, Gevorg Saroyan, had filed a lawsuit against the  Armenian Apostolic Church, demanding that his dismissal as primate of  the Masiatsotn Diocese be declared illegal. According to a notice  posted in the Datalex legal documents system, the bishop is asking  the court to invalidate the decree of His Holiness Karekin II,  Supreme Patriarch of All Armenians, issued on January 10, 2026, on  this matter.  The Armenian prime minister and his team have  repeatedly accused the Catholicos and members of the clergy of  alleged ties to the KGB.

According to the Constitution, Armenia is a secular state, where  church and state are separated. However, the "exclusive mission" of  the Armenian Apostolic Church (AAC) in preserving national identity  is recognized.