YEREVAN, April 3. /ARKA/. Following Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s visit to Moscow, opinions in Russia that economic relations with Armenia should be reduced have grown stronger, according to economist Hrant Mikaelyan.

“Therefore, from the perspective of building relations, the visit had a negative effect,” he told ARKA news agency.

However, Mikaelyan thinks that assessments of Pashinyan’s visit are mixed: on the one hand, the lack of new economic initiatives and increased risks for bilateral relations and the country’s strategic balance; on the other, the strengthening of his pre-election position and the rise of anti-Russian sentiment in Armenia.

“If we speak, for example, from a pre-election perspective, Pashinyan certainly won because he sparked a new wave of anti-Russian sentiment,” the expert noted.

On April 1, Pashinyan paid a one-day working visit to the Russian capital, during which he met with Russian President Vladimir Putin. The Prime Minister called his visit to Moscow a very successful one.