News - Armenia PM: I will not travel to Belarus from now on as long as President Alexander Lukashenko is there

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said that he will never go to Belarus again. He announced this in his address during the debates on the Armenian government's 2023 state budget performance, in the National Assembly Thursday. Speaking about the complicated relations between Armenia and the CSTO, the PM recalled the scandalous statement by the president of Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko. "One of the heads of the CSTO states says that he participated in the preparation of the war [in Nagorno-Karabakh in 2020], encouraged, believed, and wished for the victory of Azerbaijan. And after that, I will go to discuss something with the leader of Belarus in the format of the CSTO," said Pashinyan, at the same time allowing contacts within the CIS and EAEU. "I declare that I will not travel to Belarus from now on as long as President Alexander Lukashenko is in Belarus. And in general, I declare that from now on, no official representative of Armenia will go to Belarus; at all," Pashinyan promised. As for Armenia's membership in the CSTO, theoretically, Pashinyan does not exclude anything. For example, if Belarus itself leaves CSTO, or the president of Belarus finds words of apology and explanation for the people of Armenia, which will be acceptable to the people of Armenia.