Kocharian blamed Pashinian for the latest upsurge in Russian-Armenian tensions manifested by increasingly blunt Russian warnings to Yerevan. He claimed that Armenia’s leadership “doing everything to ruin relations with Russia” with its pro-Western foreign policy resented by Moscow. The latter has banned or restricted the import of some Armenian goods in recent days.

“Russia is not only a balancing power in terms of security but is also our main trading partner,” Kocharian told a campaign meeting in the town of Vayk. “The welfare of 80 percent of Armenia’s population considerably dependents on economic ties with Russia. It’s a fact which you cannot escape. Yet these authorities are consistently worsening their relations with Russia.”

“They are pursuing a foreign policy that is against our economic interests,” he said. “This course must change.”

Pashinian and his allies have played down the mounting tensions with Moscow, implying that they will ease if Armenia’s ruling Civil Contract party wins the June 7 elections. A senior party member, Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan, made clear on Monday that it would continue to deepen ties with the West.

“We will continue to deepen our relations both with the United States of America, with whom we have declared a strategic partnership, and the European Union member states … We will continue to deepen our relations with everyone, and this is in no way directed against the Russian Federation,” Mirzoyan told journalists.

Other top Pashinian allies, notably parliament speaker Alen Simonian, say that the tensions with Moscow are fanned by Kocharian’s bloc and two other major opposition groups running in the elections. Pashinian alleged last week that they are infested with “agents” sent by Moscow.

The Armenian premier at the same time claimed to have a warm rapport with Russian President Vladimir Putin and pledged to refrain from any “drastic action” against Moscow. Russian leaders have since stepped up their attacks on Pashinian.

All three opposition heavyweights pledge to repair Armenia’s relations with its traditional ally on the campaign trail.

“We know that there are political forces in Armenia that are fully supportive of the Russian development vector and a focus on further, deeper participation in integration processes involving the Russian Federation,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Monday. “Of course, we like this approach.”

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