Friday, February 25, 2022
Flights To, From Armenia Disrupted By Ukraine War
February 25, 2022
• Marine Khachatrian
Armenia - Marshallers guide a plane that landed at Zvartnots international
airport, Yerevan, January 15, 2021.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has disrupted air travel between the two countries
and Armenia.
Ukraine completely closed its airspace to commercial aircraft immediately after
the start of the Russian military offensive early on Thursday, forcing the
cancellation of all flights between its capital Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities
and Yerevan.
For its part, Russia banned civilian flights over its western and southern
regions bordering Ukraine and Belarus. It temporarily shut down the airports of
the southern Russian cities of Krasnodar and Rostov that also offered regular
flight services to Armenia.
Airlines carrying out daily flights between Moscow and Yerevan thus have to
bypass the Krasnodar and Rostov regions and take a longer route as a result.
Many of those flights were again delayed by a few hours on Friday.
“We got this morning a text message and call from [the Russian airline] Aeroflot
saying that our flight will be delayed,” said one passenger waiting for his
flight to Moscow at Yerevan’s Zvartnots airport. “And we are going to take a
longer route. The flight was supposed to take about three hours. It will now
last for about four or just over four hours.”
“The partial closure of Russian airspace has diverted everyone from their usual
routes,” said Gevorg Khachatrian, the executive director of Air Company Armenia,
a local carrier.
“Now an alternative route is offered to not only our company but also all other
airlines that fly from Armenia to Russia. The flights therefore take an extra
40-45 minutes,” Khachatrian told RFE/RL’s Armenian Service.
The longer flights also mean additional costs incurred by Russian and Armenian
airlines, he said.
Armenian Defense Minister Visits Moscow
February 25, 2022
Russia - Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu (right) meets with his Armenian
counterpart Suren Papikian in Moscow, February 25, 2022.
Defense Minister Suren Papikian reportedly reaffirmed Armenia’s commitment to
closer military ties with Russia and spoke of “new challenges and threats”
facing the two allied countries as met with his Russian counterpart Sergei
Shoigu in Moscow on Friday.
“I can assure you that I will do my best to further develop Russian-Armenian
defense cooperation,” the Russian Defense Ministry quoted him as telling Shoigu
at the start of their talks.
Papikian, who was appointed as defense minister in November, began his first
visit to Russia in his current capacity on Thursday just hours after the Russian
military launched a large-scale attack on Ukraine condemned by the West.
Official press releases on his meeting with Shoigu made no explicit mention of
the Russian invasion.
According to the Russian Defense Ministry, Papikian said Moscow and Yerevan have
to constantly deal with “new challenges and threats.”
“It’s obvious that all these challenges and threats facing our states can only
be overcome by acting jointly,” he said.
A statement released by the Armenian Defense Minister said the two ministers
discussed Russian-Armenian military cooperation as well as “international and
regional security issues.” It said they praised Russian efforts to help
“stabilize the military-political situation” in the South Caucasus.
“The discussions also touched upon the ongoing reforms and modernization of the
Armenian Armed Forces,” added the statement.
Armenia - Russian and Armenian troops hold a joint military exercise, November
24, 2021.
Armenia moved to deepen its already close military ties with Russia shortly
after the 2020 war in Nagorno-Karabakh stopped by a Russian-brokered ceasefire.
Moscow has since deployed troops in Armenia’s Syunik province sandwiched between
Azerbaijan and its Nakhichevan exclave.
Meeting with Papikian’s predecessor Arshak Karapetian in Moscow last August,
Shoigu said Moscow will continue to help Yerevan reform, rearm and modernize the
Armenian army.
Papikian met with Shoigu two days after Russian President Vladimir Putin and his
Azerbaijani counterpart Ilham Aliyev signed in the Kremlin a joint declaration
on “allied cooperation” between their nations.
The declaration says, among other things, that Russia and Azerbaijan will avoid
“any actions directed against each other” and could consider “providing each
other with military assistance.”
Yerevan Worried About Wider Impact Of Western Sanctions Against Russia
February 25, 2022
• Astghik Bedevian
Kazakhstan - Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian speaks during a session of
the the Eurasian Intergovernmental Council in Nur-Sultan, February 25, 2022.
Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian on Friday signaled concerns over the economic
impact of Western sanctions, imposed on Russia over its invasion of Ukraine, on
other members of the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU), including Armenia.
In a clear reference to fallout from Russia’s unprecedented military action,
Pashinian spoke of a “sharp escalation of the geopolitical situation” as he
visited Kazakhstan to attend a meeting of the prime ministers of five ex-Soviet
states making up the Russian-led trade bloc.
“Of course, it is obvious that sanctions actions will have a direct impact on
the economic climate in the Eurasian space,” he said at their joint meeting with
Kazakh President Qasym-Zhomart Toqaev. “In this regard, we must discuss what
operational decisions need to be made to ensure that these negative effects are
minimal or, if possible, circumvent them through appropriate decisions.”
Toqaev and Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin discussed the matter during
their separate talks held in Kazakhstan’s capital Nur-Sultan. The Kazakh
presidential press service said they spoke about “joint efforts to prevent a
decrease of trade volume between the two nations amid the escalation of the
situation in Ukraine and the international sanctions being imposed on Russia.”
UKRAINE -- Servicemen of the Ukrainian National Guard take positions in central
Kyiv, Ukraine February 25, 2022.
The talks between Toqaev and Mishustin were held as EU leaders agree to impose
additional sanctions on Russia which that they say will have “massive and severe
consequences.” A day earlier, U.S. President Joe Biden announced another round
of harsh U.S. sanctions against Moscow over its invasion of Ukraine.
Armenia has still not officially reacted to the large-scale Russian military
attack launched on Thursday and strongly condemned by the West. The Armenian
Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday that Yerevan regards both Russia and Ukraine
as “friendly countries” and hopes that they will resolve their conflict through
“diplomatic dialogue.”
Armenia - Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian and other senior officials attend a
Russian-Armenian business forum in Yerevan, September 20, 2021.
Russia is not only Armenia’s closest ally but also number one trading partner.
According to official statistics, Russian-Armenian trade rose by almost 21
percent, to $2.6 billion, last year.
Armenian exports to Russia were up by about 25 percent at $847 million,
contributing to renewed economic growth in the South Caucasus country. They
could be hit hard by an ongoing weakening of the Russian ruble.
Russia is also the main source of multimillion-dollar remittances sent home by
Armenians working abroad. A weaker ruble could slash the monetary value of these
cash inflows.
Reprinted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL
Copyright (c) 2022 Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty, Inc.
1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.