Kremlin surprised by Pashinyan’s Armenian-language speech at international summit

Filed 1h ago · Via NV · The Buffoon Desk

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Kevin MacLeod · incompetech.com · CC BY 4.0

Photo: gdsteam · CC BY 2.0 · via Wikimedia Commons

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan delivered his speech at the Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit in Armenian rather than Russian, prompting Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov to say he did not understand why, framing it as a signal about Armenian sovereignty. Peskov added that Russia 'respects' the choice if it matters so much to Pashinyan, a courtesy that arrived wrapped in visible confusion.

The remark follows months of Pashinyan distancing Armenia from Moscow, including saying in August there are no longer grounds to call Russia a strategic partner, and confirming Armenia does not plan to rejoin the CSTO, which it has stopped funding since 2024. Pashinyan also told the summit Armenia intends to formally apply for EU membership, though without a set timeline, while leaving open the possibility of a referendum on Eurasian Economic Union membership down the road.

The full dispatch is available from the source below.

✒ FROM THE EDITORIAL DESK

A spokesman baffled that a prime minister used his own nation's language is not confusion, it is a complaint dressed up as a shrug. Peskov's version of respect sounds a lot like a landlord being magnanimous about a tenant who finally changed the locks. Armenia has been walking out of the room for two years now; Moscow just keeps acting surprised every time the door clicks shut.

Source: Read the original at NV → Scored: Spy Glass · Kevin MacLeod · CC BY 4.0

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