A pro-Western group in Armenia has rallied against Chairwoman of the Federation Council of the Russian Federal Assembly, Valentina Matviyenko’s visit to Yerevan.
This was the second protest against a Russian official’s visit to Armenia. A similar protest was held outside of the Foreign Ministry building on 20–21 May against Russian FM Sergey Lavrov’s two-day visit to Yerevan.
The protesters on Saturday gathered outside of the parliament building, chanting slogans “Traitors,” “Murderers,” “Fascists,” and “Get out.” Police forces were deployed outside of the parliament building. A verbal clash erupted as a group of protesters were carrying posters about historic friendship ties between Russia and Armenia.
The leader of the “For the Republic” party Arman Babajanyan, who was among the protesters, said the protest against Matviyenko was aimed to underline the fact that Yerevana and Moscow were no longer allies. “Russia is waging a hybrid war against Armenia. And wars are waged by enemies. They should no longer come here as if it were their own territory. They must understand that they need to think twice before visiting,” Babajanyan said. The allegations that Russia was waging a hybrid war against Yerevan was earlier raised by the Speaker of Armenia’s Parliament, Alen Simonyan, who said “there are attempts to change the government in Armenia, and protests are announced on Russian television channels.”Simonyan had warned against Russian meddling in the upcoming parliamentary elections in 2026.
However, on Saturday, Simonyan welcomed Matviyenko’s at the airport with flowers. The two officials later jointly opened the 39th session of the Interparliamentary Commission on Cooperation between the Federal Assembly of Russia and the National Assembly of Armenia dedicated to the 80th anniversary of the Victory in the Great Patriotic War. Valentina Matviyenko also met with Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan. During the meeting she reaffirmed Russia’s willingness to continue cooperation with Armenia based on mutual respect, according to Pashinyan’s press office.
Yerevan-Moscow relations have worsened since Armenia’s defeat in the war with Azerbaijan in 2020. Armenia has criticized Kermlin for failure to defend the country during the war and has suspended its members in the Russian-led military bloc, Collective Security Treaty Organization.
