Arsenyan met with Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Galuzin. During the conversation, he was informed about the “categorically unacceptable option of providing Volodymyr Zelensky with a platform to express terrorist threats against Russia during the recent EU-sponsored events in Armenia,” according to a statement from the Russian ministry.
Moscow, according to a statement by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, “feels justified indignation” by Zelensky's speech in Yerevan. Russia also believes, the ambassador was told, that Armenia's failure to condemn the “scandalous behavior” of the Ukrainian president is “incompatible with the partnership nature of Russian-Armenian relations.”
In its statement, the Russian Foreign Ministry did not specify what specific threats Zelensky was talking about.
What did Zelensky say at the summit?
“They cannot afford military equipment – and they are afraid that drones may fly over Red Square. This is telling – it shows their weakness,” Zelensky said.
Initially, Zelensky's quote circulated in Russian and Ukrainian media with an inaccurate translation, which led to the statement being interpreted as a threat to attack Moscow with Ukrainian drones.
Russia did not hide its outrage
On the same day, the Russian Ministry of Defense issued a statement. Moreover, to justify its statement, it used an incorrect quote from Zelensky, despite being aware of the error in translating the Ukrainian leader's statement. Later, Moscow and Kiev actually exchanged both direct threats and hints on this topic.
A diplomatic source at the TASS agency claims that the conversation between the representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry and the Armenian ambassador “was exceptionally sharp.”
Commenting on Volodymyr Zelensky's visit to Yerevan, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said that Armenia is not an ally of Russia “in the Ukraine issue.” Pashinyan previously announced that he would not take part in May 9 celebrations in Moscow, including the Victory Parade.
