In an interview with Public TV on the evening of October 10, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan stated that Armenia has received confirmation that there is no political subtext in the situation with the export of cognac from the republic. 

Pashinyan expressed surprise at the version being circulated in the media that Russia is allegedly closing, has closed, or will close the market for Armenia. He recalled that similar situations have arisen hundreds of times over the past 20 years and that Armenia is a member of the Eurasian Economic Union. "To draw conclusions, we must be familiar with the subtleties. I tried to understand what happened and what was going on. We received confirmation that there is no political subtext there, the issue is about procedures," Pashinyan said. At the same time, he called on the local economic entities to monitor the quality of products and observe the production standards, expressing confidence that if all the established requirements are met, Armenia will not face the issue of opening or closing a market.

Touching upon current relations with Russia, Pashinyan noted that Armenia has not canceled anything in its relations with the Russian Federation and has not withdrawn from anywhere. "There is no question of withdrawal from the CSTO or withdrawal of the 102nd Russian military base from the territory of the republic. Armenia is not changing its foreign policy vector," the prime minister assured. "We are not changing the vector with the Russian Federation. The problem is not in Armenia and the Russian Federation but in relations between major players. We have not canceled anything in our relations with the Russian Federation or withdrawn from anything. However, we have never glossed over the existing problems either," the Armenian leader noted.

At the same time, he admitted that certain difficulties in relations over the past 20-30 years have arisen from time to time, but all the issues have been solved. According to Pashinyan, they are currently going through a difficult period in the global sense, and the problem is not in the contacts between Yerevan and Moscow but in the relations between global forces. The Armenian leader also acknowledged certain misunderstandings with Russia on the issue of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC). "But Yerevan decided to start the ratification procedure even before the ICC actions against the Russian president," he emphasized.