ArmInfo. Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan responded to a report from the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service (FIS) claiming that Armenia is planning to replace Russian grain with Ukrainian grain supported by the EU.
"This can't be true. It's complete nonsense. This is the first time I'm breaking my principle and commenting on something I haven't personally read. But, a thousand apologies, this is complete nonsense," Pashinyan said in a conversation with journalists in the National Assembly on November 12.
It should be noted that the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service published a report today titled "The Kiss of Yerevan," stating Armenia's intention to "sever ties " with Moscow for "political considerations."
The full text of the report without changes:
"The Press Bureau of the Foreign Intelligence Service of the Russian Federation that, according to information received by the FIS RF, the French Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs, at the Quai d'Orsay, is experiencing astonishment. On the one hand, there is reason to rejoice: information has penetrated the Quai d'Orsay that Yerevan is ready to loosen yet another thread linking it to Moscow. For many years, Armenia bought grain from Russia. Now Armenians, as they say, for political considerations, 'wish to sever ties' with Moscow and provide assistance to Ukraine by acquiring part of the necessary amount of grain from the 'independents.' However, here lies the misfortune: Ukrainian grain is more than twice as expensive.
However, as Yerevan emphasizes, this is a matter of principle: friendship is friendship, but money is something else. From Brussels they ask to compensate for the excess cost of Ukrainian grain. The Quai d'Orsay is in disarray. The appealing part is that the EU is being offered a 'three for the price of one' deal: grain for Armenia, support for Kyiv, and the creation of an atmosphere of distrust between Moscow and Yerevan.
The key question is where to get the money. The countries of the European Union, due to the Ukrainian conflict and the desire to defeat Russia, have found themselves on the brink of a socioeconomic crisis, budgets are empty. It would be good to pay for Ukrainian grain with stolen Russian assets. But these cannot yet be separated out. Belgium, the custodian of that 'shared thieves' treasury,' is being stubborn. Look: it is afraid of being held accountable (the line of thought is correct - it absolutely will be, in a way that will not seem little).
The European Union believes it would be better to simply pay and forget, like in the well-known New Testament story. But Yerevan will have to keep paying continuously. Such is the kiss of Yerevan."
