Russian Foreign Ministry Summons Armenian Ambassador Over Yerevan’s ‘Unfriendly Actions’

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - The Russian Foreign Ministry summoned Armenian ambassador Vagharshak Harutyunyan on Friday for a serious talk over a number of “unfriendly actions” made by Yerevan.

According to the ministry, the Armenian athorities has recently made a number of “unfriendly actions” directed against Russia, namely launching the Rome Statute ratification process, a trip of Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s wife to Kiev, and holding joint drills with the United States.

“In this regard, Armenian ambassador in Moscow Harutyunyan was summoned to the Russian Foreign Ministry for a serious talk,” the ministry stated.

In addition, Russia handed a note of protest to the ambassador over “offensive statements” made by President of Armenian National Assembly Alen Simonyan against Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova and the ministry in general.

The ministry also expressed concern over detention of pro-Russian blogger Mikael Badalyan and Sputnik Armenia columnist Ashot Gevorkyan on September 7 in Armenia.

“At the same time, Moscow firmly believes that Russia and Armenia remain allies, and all agreements on the development and strengthening of partnerships will be fully implemented for the benefit of the people of our two countries,” the ministry emphasized.