Displaced Artsakh Armenians receive assistance immediately upon arriving in Armenia in 2023

Official Moscow said on Thursday that Yerevan has rejected the latest round of Russian humanitarian assistance for displaced Artsakh Armenians, claiming that the Armenian government did not want any reference of Russian charity ahead of the June 7 elections.

“The justification for Yerevan’s refusal to agree to the next batch of humanitarian aid from Russia for those displaced from Nagorno-Karabakh raises more questions than answers,” said Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova at a press briefing on Thursday. “It is obvious that Yerevan’s refusal to provide exclusively charitable and non-political humanitarian aid is due to the Armenian authorities’ pre-election desire to erase all references to Russia.”

The spokesperson said that as part of Russia’s assistance, 140 tons of humanitarian cargo—comprised of food, basic necessities, and special children’s kits—had been sent to 7,000 families displaced from Artsakh.

“Meeting basic needs was enabling the people, as well as the Armenian authorities, to concentrate on solving more serious problems such as housing, employment, social reintegration, which exclusively falls within the purview of the authorities. This humanitarian assistance, could have helped them focus on priority goals,” Zakharova said.

She said that Yerevan had justified its move by saying that during the pre-election period, Armenian law restricted “the provision of donations, as well as charitable assistance.”

Zakharova explained, however, that Armenia’s electoral code imposes such restriction on organizations and entities that are somehow connected to political figures and parties running in the elections. International or charitable organizations, she said, are prohibited from carrying out any election-related publicity or “propaganda,” as she put it.

“It is simply impossible to think that this [Russian assistance for displaced Artsakh Armenians] is in any way connected with propaganda. It is obvious that Yerevan’s refusal to provide charitable and non-political humanitarian aid is conditioned by the Armenian authorities’ pre-election aspiration to literally erase any mention of Russia,” Zakharova said.

The spokesperson said that the Armenian authorities were harming their own citizens and claimed that they will attempt also claim that Russia refused to sent assistance.

This comes as Armenia’s Foreign Intelligence Service issued an ominous and cryptic statement this week alleging “foreign actors” are actively engaged in swaying the June elections.

During a speech at the European Parliament on Wednesday, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan claimed that “Russian and Belarussian oligarchs” were interfering in the election process by providing financial incentives to Armenian abroad to sway the elections to their will.

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