The Armenian Prime Minister threatens to block Russian television channels

Armenia could ban Russian television broadcasts if Moscow continues to ignore Yerevan’s demands for more balanced reporting, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said on Tuesday.

“We expect the broadcasts of Russian television channels to respect the citizens and state system of Armenia,” Pashinyan said during a marathon press conference, according to the Russian news agency Interfax. “We demand a respectful attitude towards Armenia and its interests.”

Russian state television has regularly aired attacks on Armenia’s leadership and policies since relations between the two countries deteriorated over Moscow’s failure to prevent Azerbaijan from seizing control of the separatist Nagorno-Karabakh region last fall . Russia had maintained a peacekeeping mission in the region after a brief war between Baku and Yerevan in 2020.

Independent Russian media previously reported that the Kremlin had ordered state media and lawmakers to blame Armenia for Azerbaijan’s September 2023 attack.