Armenia seeks to avoid Western sanctions while cooperating with Russia - Pashinyan

YEREVAN. May 15 (Interfax) - Armenia wants to avoid falling under anti-Russian sanctions imposed by the West and is directly telling this to Russia, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said.

"We gladly meet the Russian demand wherever there is a vacant spot. Sanctions are our red lines. And we are clearly telling this to Russia: we don't want to hurt you but we cannot afford coming under sanctions ourselves. There is no secret here," Pashinyan said in an interview with the Czech magazine Respekt, the Armenian state-run news agency Armenpress said.

Owing to the Ukraine situation, logistic chains of freight traffic have been disrupted or are not functioning, many goods that used to be shipped directly to Russia are now traveling there via Armenia, Kazakhstan and other countries, he said.

"For example, drinks, which aren't subject to sanctions, are no problem. Before February 2022, they were shipped via Poland and Belarus, now they travel via Armenia. It's not just about the change of routes, most of the European freight forwarders are refusing to directly cooperate with the Russian market. And Russian freight forwarders cannot deliver them to Poland. Thus, entirely new logistic routes were created, including across Armenian territory. But, in terms of sanctioned goods, we are trying to be as transparent as possible, we are cooperating with the EU, U.S., even with Russia itself. We are a member of the EAEU and we have very close economic ties with Russia, and Armenian businesses like participating in the recently created programs," the Armenian prime minister said.

A majority of people who recently relocated to Armenia from Russia have dual citizenship, as they hold both Russian and Armenian passports, he said.

"Almost 30,000 people with only Russian citizenship have arrived in Armenia. They have made their contribution to our economic growth, because most of them are highly qualified and often work in the field of innovative technology, which translates into economic activity. We are happy that they are here," Pashinyan said.