A lawmaker representing Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian’s party last month called for such a ban and said it is now considered by the Armenian government. Lusine Badalian claimed that the Russian broadcasters’ news coverage poses a threat to Armenia’s national security. She appeared to allude to their recent reports critical of Pashinian.
“All scenarios are discussed but no decision has been made,” Khachatrian told reporters when he was asked to comment on the possibility of the ban which has prompted serious concern from Russian officials.
He cited a 2020 Russian-Armenian agreement that allowed Russia’s two leading federal channels as well as the Kultura TV station affiliated with one of them to retain their slots in Armenia’s national digital package accessible to TV viewers across the country.
“The agreement calls for relevant steps in case of violations and we will take those relevant steps,” the minister said without elaborating.
Asked whether he too regards the Russian TV broadcasts as a security threat, he said: “I won’t comment on that.”
The cryptic remarks highlight a continuing deterioration of Russian-Armenian relations which accelerated after last month’s Azerbaijani military offensive in Nagorno-Karabakh and Russia’s failure to prevent or stop it.
Addressing the European Parliament earlier this week, Pashinian accused Moscow of using the conflict to try to topple him. A Russian government source responded by comparing the Armenian leader to President Volodymyr Zelenskiy of Ukraine which was invaded by Russia last year.