Russian Senate Chair Matvienko greeted with protests in Yerevan

Russian Federation Council Chair Valentina Matvienko has visited Yerevan to hold meetings with Armenian officials, including her counterpart Alen Simonyan, to discuss ties between Armenia and Russia. As the two met in parliament, two demonstrations took place outside: one against her visit and one in support of Russia.

Matvienko met with Simonyan at the Armenian Parliament on Friday.

Armenpress, a state-owned news agency, cited Matvienko as thanking Simonyan for ‘resuming political dialogue at the parliamentary level’ between Russia and Armenia.

‘We are happy to resume political dialogue at the level of speakers after a certain period of time’, Matvienko said.

During their meeting, Simonyan thanked Matvienko for her visit to Armenia, which Armenpress reported had taken place in the context of the 80th anniversary of the Soviet Union’s victory in World War II.

The two discussed political, economic, educational, and cultural ties between their two countries, with Simonyan saying that Armenia was waiting for Azerbaijan to sign the peace agreement they had already agreed upon in March.

Simonyan also discussed the issue of Armenian prisoners being held ‘illegally’ in Azerbaijan, but no further details on the matter were published by Armenpress.

Armenia has recently called for the release of Armenian prisoners — including former Nagorno-Karabakh officials — being held and tried on multiple counts of war crimes by Azerbaijan.

According to RFE/RL, Matvienko’s meeting with Simonyan was met with two separate demonstrations outside the building: one in support of Russia and Matvienko and another against Russia and its policies towards Armenia.

Local media reported that the leader of the For the Republic party, Arman Babajanyan, organised the anti-Russian protest, saying that ‘Russia is waging a hybrid war against Armenia’ and that Russians ‘should no longer enter here as if it were their own territory, they should think twice before coming to Armenia’.

According to News.am, those protesting against Matvienko’s visit came with EU flags and anti-Russian posters, while pro-Russian demonstrators brought banners and posters with pro-Russian messaging.

The news outlet reported that the anti-Russian demonstrators chanted ‘Russia is a traitor’, ‘Putin is cursed’, ‘Fascists’, and ‘Murderers’, and that they held posters reading ‘Artsakh [the Armenian name for Nagorno-Karabakh] is on your conscience’.

Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov was also greeted with protests upon his arrival in Yerevan in late May.

Following her meeting with Simonyan, Matvienko met with Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan.

According to Russian state news agency Tass, Matvienko claimed that relations between Russia and Armenia were not experiencing a ‘crisis of trust’.

‘I don’t have such a feeling. On the contrary, just like us, Armenia has demonstrated its interest in expanding the development of our multifaceted bilateral cooperation’, she said.

Pashinyan, in turn, also said that he had ‘no problems in relations’ with Russian President Vladimir Putin, and ‘emphasised that, despite any insinuations, he and Vladimir Vladimirovich have always had, have, and continue to have constructive, substantive relations’.

Matvienko’s visit comes against the backdrop of an apparent thaw in relations between Armenia and Russia after years of their deterioration following the Second Nagorno-Karabakh War of 2020.

Russia’s Lavrov says he sees ‘no reason for Ukrainisation’ of Armenia

During his visit to Yerevan, the Russian Foreign Minister discussed Armenia–Russia relations and Armenia’s CSTO membership.

OC MediaYousef Bardouka