{"id":207895,"date":"2026-10-17T23:42:00","date_gmt":"2026-10-17T20:42:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/207895\/"},"modified":"2026-10-18T00:16:08","modified_gmt":"2026-10-17T21:16:08","slug":"pashinyan-denies-that-contacts-with-putin-lukasenka-signal-shift-in-armenias-foreign-policy","status":"publish","type":"articles","link":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/207895\/","title":{"rendered":"Pashinyan denies that contacts with Putin, \u0141uka\u0161enka signal shift in Armenia\u2019s foreign policy"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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\n\n CIS summit in Turkmenistan\n <\/div>\n \n
\n (Pul Pervogo)<\/span>\n <\/div>\n <\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

October 17, Pozirk<\/em>.<\/strong> Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan played down his recent contacts with Alaksandar \u0141uka\u0161enka and Vladimir Putin during a CIS summit in Turkmenistan, insisting that they do not mean any change in Armenia\u2019s foreign policy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pashinyan stressed that Armenia communicates with international partners \u201cwithin the bounds of diplomatic correctness\u201d and denied that speaking with foreign leaders implies political alignment with them. \u201cHave I ever said I wouldn\u2019t greet \u0141uka\u0161enka or that I\u2019d leave the road if I saw him? I said we wouldn\u2019t go to Belarus and our official delegations wouldn\u2019t go there, and we haven\u2019t,\u201d he said, describing this as a \u201cdemarche.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Before the October 9 summit, Pashinyan stood between Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and \u0141uka\u0161enka while posing for a group photo. \u0141uka\u0161enka joked that Pashinyan \u201cwon\u2019t get away from us\u201d and \u201cwill be in the middle now.\u201d Both leaders smiled in response.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pashinyan also briefly spoke with Russian President Vladimir Putin, who was seen patting him warmly on the back.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In June 2024, Nikol Pashinyan said that neither he nor any other Armenian official would travel to Belarus as long as \u0141uka\u0161enka was in power. Armenia subsequently withdrew its ambassador from Minsk. Belarus also recalled its ambassador, Alaksandar Kaniuk, who was soon dismissed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pashinyan was angered by \u0141uka\u0161enka\u2019s remarks supportive of Azerbaijan made in May 2024. The Belarusian ruler reportedly said that he had not only been aware of Baku\u2019s plans to try to reconquer the Nagorno-Karabakh region by force but also approved them during his meetings with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev before the 2020 war.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Armenia has also been downgrading its participation in the Russia-led Collective Security Treaty Organization since late 2022, accusing its individual members of \u201cplanning a war\u201d against Armenia together with Azerbaijan. Pashinyan declared that the CSTO posed a threat to Armenia\u2019s existence, sovereignty and statehood.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In April 2025, Armenian President Vahagn Khachaturyan signed a law establishing the legal framework for Armenia\u2019s accession to the European Union.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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