Kremlin says Putin–Pashinyan meeting unlikely before official election results

Moscow does not expect a meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan until the official results of Armenia’s parliamentary elections are announced, Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Wednesday.

Peskov noted that the official election results are expected on June 14, while several participants are preparing to file protests challenging the outcome, News.Az reports, citing TASS.

“This is why the Armenian prime minister is probably busy at the moment with finalizing domestic processes in the country. Later on and depending on the final results of this pre-election story, we will make a bilateral-level decision [on a Putin–Pashinyan meeting],” Peskov said at a press conference.

Armenia held parliamentary elections on June 7. On election day, observers and opposition representatives reported an unusually high number of alleged irregularities, including carousel voting and ballot removal. Authorities also detained opposition members during both the campaign period and election day.

According to preliminary updated data from Armenia’s Central Election Commission, three political forces are set to enter parliament. The Civil Contract party led by Pashinyan received 49.825% of the vote, the Strong Armenia alliance of businessman Samvel Karapetyan won 23.281%, and the Armenia Alliance of former president Robert Kocharyan secured 9.934%.

The Prosperous Armenia party, led by businessman Gagik Tsarukyan, received 3.996% of the vote and fell just below the 4% threshold required to enter parliament. The party has requested a recount in several precincts.

Voter turnout stood at 58.97%. 

News.Az