Why Armenia supported Russia at Council of Europe?

 NEWS.am 
Armenia – March 1 2022

Yerevan's position is that the conflict in Ukraine should be resolved through diplomacy. That's why it is necessary to maintain diplomatic channels. Eduard Aghajanyan, Chair of the Standing Committee on Foreign Relations of the National Assembly (NA) of Armenia and  an MP from the ruling Civil Contract Party, stated this at Tuesday’s press conference—at the NA—of the members of the Armenian delegation to the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly—and commenting on why Armenia did not support Council of Europe (CoE) sanctions on Russia.

According to him, the severance of ties does not contribute to the development of diplomatic solutions.

"It is in this context that Armenia decided to vote like that," said Aghajanyan.

Last week, the CoE suspended Russia's representation in the organization. A total 42 countries voted for the suspension of Russia's representation, whereas only two countries—Russia itself and Armenia—voted against it. Turkey abstained while Azerbaijan did not take part in this vote.