Russia’s Spokeswoman considers Armenia’s ban on Russians entering Armenia ‘unfriendly act’

Moscow considers the ban on the entry of Russians to Armenia an unfriendly step contrary to allied relations, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said.

“We consider the ban on entry of Russian citizens as an unfriendly step that contradicts the allied nature of Russian-Armenian interaction,” the diplomat said.

According to her, Yerevan was offered concrete steps to resolve the contradictions. Moscow is waiting for a reaction.

She noted that the “topic of stop lists” in Moscow’s relations with Yerevan has to be commented on “quite often.” The issue was discussed by the foreign ministers during the visit of Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov to Armenia in May.

“We have repeatedly called on our Armenian partners to stop this vicious practice,” she said.

In particular, in 2022, the first deputy head of the State Duma Committee on CIS Affairs, Konstantin Zatulin, became persona non grata in Armenia, getting on Armenia’s stop list.