At the government hour in the parliament of the republic on May 24, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan stated that the recipient of a ton of cocaine recently discovered by the Armenian National Security Service (NSS) appears to have been a well-known fruit import company owned by a former MP from the former ruling Republican Party of Armenia (RPA) who is currently on the wanted list. 

The Prime Minister stressed that in a criminal case, party affiliation cannot work either for or against this or that person. "Representatives of various parties can appear in criminal cases. If the person involved in the case is a member of the RPA, is it really necessary to detain the entire party, headed by the chairman? Of course, some people are not so committed to its ideas in any party," Pashinyan said. "If an acting official is involved in the case, he will also not receive any immunity; on the contrary, the attention of law enforcement officers, first of all, is directed to officials," he assured.

Returning to the problem of drug trafficking, which, according to local observers, has recently increased dramatically in Armenia, Pashinyan noted that if law enforcement officers began to uncover large cases of drug trafficking, then this is more likely good than bad. "Of course, it would be possible not to reveal a singleton, not a single gram, create the appearance of well-being and declare that we have defeated drug trafficking. But this will not be true because drug trafficking has become a problem even for developed countries," the head of the Armenian government said.

Moreover, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan stated that creating a land route linking the western regions of Azerbaijan with Nakhchivan is not a separate issue on the agenda. "The topic is being discussed in conjunction with the unblocking of regional communications," he explained.

According to Pashinyan, Armenia and Azerbaijan agreed on a mutual basis to open communications. In this context, the idea of building new transport infrastructures is being worked out. Yerevan did not undertake to build new transport infrastructures but is also ready to consider this option. Pashinyan reiterated Armenia's position that all cross-border transport routes should operate under the sovereignty of the countries they pass. At the same time, the head of the Armenian government assured the MPs that in the presence of a jury, he could prove that he never, in any format, promised an extraterritorial corridor to Azerbaijan and did not give rise to such statements.

Furthermore, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan reacted to a comment by Russian Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Maria Zakharova regarding his statement on the Collective Security Treaty Organization.

During a government hour in the Armenian parliament, Arpine Davoyan, an MP from the faction of the ruling Civil Contract party, asked the Prime Minister about his attitude to the comment made earlier by the official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry regarding Nikol Pashinyan's recent statement about the republic's membership in the CSTO.

"The President and Prime Minister of the Russian Federation are my interlocutors. Even a representative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of such a respected and friendly state as Russia cannot comment on what I said. He should just listen to what I said," the Armenian leader said.

Read also:

Armenia Reports Significant Cocaine Seizure

Russia Responds to Pashinyan's Recent Comments on Withdrawal from CSTO and Relations with Russia