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Kremlin hopes friendly ties between Russia and Armenia will remain constant in any event

Armenia has seen mass opposition rallies since April 13

SOCHI, May 3. /TASS/. Russia expects that its benevolent relations with Armenia will remain constant whatever the current political situation in this republic leads to, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.

"We hope that allied, benevolent and constructive bilateral Russian - Armenian relations will remain constant in any event both for our country’s foreign policy and for the foreign policy of Yerevan," Peskov said. He noted that it is still unclear what the voting on the Armenian PM candidacy would end with - "who will get support, who will get less support - so I say (that we expect to preserve relations - TASS) in any case."

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He hopes that the processes in Armenia will stay within the limits of law. "We sincerely wish our Armenian friends to approach the settlement of the current domestic political situation as soon as possible," the Kremlin spokesman said.

Armenia has seen mass opposition rallies since April 13. On April 23, Prime Minister Serzh Sargsyan resigned amid protests. First Deputy Prime Minister Karen Karapetyan was appointed acting prime minister.

On May 1, members of parliament rejected opposition leader Nikol Pashinyan’s candidacy to the post of prime minister. Forty-five lawmakers voted for him, against 53 votes needed for election as prime minister. Pashinyan then called on his supporters to embark on mass civil disobedience actions. The next voting on the PM candidacy is due on May 8.

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