In the snap parliamentary elections held in Armenia on June 7, the ruling "Civil Contract" Party won 49.82% of the votes, gaining the right to form the new government alone.
Modern.az reminds that the pro-Russian "Strong Armenia" bloc finished the elections in 3rd place with 23.2%, and the "Armenia" bloc led by ex-president Robert Kocharyan with 9.9%.
This news from Yerevan immediately became the focus of international attention. Numerous congratulations are coming to Pashinyan from the leadership of the European Union and the heads of member countries. However, against the background of this congratulatory marathon, the most striking point is the deep silence demonstrated by the Kremlin, Armenia's main political, military and economic partner. Russian President Vladimir Putin has not yet congratulated Pashinyan.
The Kremlin's silence is not limited to Moscow; other leading members of the Eurasian Economic Union led by Russia are also keeping their distance from Yerevan. For example, leaders of allied countries such as Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko and Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov have not yet joined the ranks of those who congratulated Pashinyan. Only Kazakhstan's President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev broke the general line and sent a congratulatory telegram to his Armenian counterpart from this alliance.
Against the background of Moscow's official coolness, reactions from official Russian structures show the true color of the situation more clearly. Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova made a rather harsh, critical statement regarding the course of the elections and Armenia's official policy. She questioned the transparency of the election process and spoke about interventions by the ruling party in the process. Russian leader's press secretary Dmitry Peskov made the matter even more official when answering journalists' questions: "We are waiting for the official and final results of the elections in Armenia to be announced. Official congratulations and steps can only be considered after that."
However, this approach does not seem convincing in diplomatic circles. If we look at the history of diplomatic protocol, Vladimir Putin previously congratulated Armenian leaders - including Pashinyan himself in previous elections - immediately and very quickly as soon as the preliminary results were announced. Now, the prolongation of the process is Moscow's demonstrative reaction to Yerevan's recent pro-Western policy.
With this silence, Putin sends a message to Pashinyan that relations will not be easy in the new phase.
