Armenian political analysts link resignation of ambassador to Russia with aggravation of Karabakh conflict

On March 10, President Serzh Sargsyan signed a decree on releasing Oleg Esayan from the post of Armenia's extraordinary and plenipotentiary ambassador to Russia, a source from the presidential administration told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

According to his story, Esayan, who was Armenia's Ambassador to Russia since 2010, was replaced by Vardan Toganyan.

According to Manvel Sarkisyan, a political analyst and the director of the Armenian Centre for Strategic and National Studies, the key role in the ambassador’s resignation was played by the criticism of the Russian journalist Vladimir Solovyov.

On March 6 inYerevan, Vladimir Solovyev criticized the activities of Oleg Esayan, stating, in particular, that the ambassador was inactive during the aggravation of the Karabakh conflict in April 2016, the "Sputnik Armenia" reports.

In his turn, Ruben Megrabyan, a political analyst and an expert of the Centre for Political and International Studies, has treated the step of Armenian authorities to replace the ambassador to Russia as a late decision.

"The former ambassador did not match his post; the evidence being the longstanding inaction of the Armenian diplomacy in Russia and in the Russian direction," Mr Megrabyan told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent, agreeing that Vladimir Solovyov’s opinion could influence the decision to replace the ambassador.

Full text of the article is available on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’.