New Armenian PM tells Putin he wants closer ties with Russia
The meeting, in the Black Sea resort of Sochi, was the first time the two men had met and followed Pashinyan’s election last week after weeks of street protests.
Some Western media had questioned whether Pashinyan, a former journalist who won power by channeling public discontent over perceived political cronyism, would keep his country, a landlocked ex-Soviet state, closely aligned with Russia, which has a military base in Armenia and a long history of selling it weapons.
Pashinyan, who had previously reassured Russian diplomats he did not plan to break with Moscow, was unequivocal on Monday, telling Putin he wanted the two countries to remain firm allies, for Armenia to buy more Russian weapons and for them to forge closer political and trade ties.
Pashinyan said he wanted to inject new energy into developing already close ties between Moscow and Yerevan and thanked Putin for the way the Russian leader had handled the Armenian street protests.
Russia did not intervene militarily, but was in close contact with Armenian politicians during the protests.
