Russian, Kazakh presidents discuss situation in Armenia

PanARMENIAN.Net - Russian president Vladimir Putin and his Kazakh counterpart Nursultan Nazarbayev spoke on the phone on Friday, May 4, to discuss the situation in Armenia, the Kremlin press service said in a statement.

The presidents discussed the prospects for bilateral cooperation, as well as issues of regional and international agenda, including the situation in Armenia

"Preparations for the meeting of the Supreme Eurasian Economic Council in Sochi on May 14, 2018, were discussed.

A campaign against the Armenian authorities was in full swing across Yerevan and the rest of the republic on Wednesday, after the parliament failed to elect opposition leader Nikol Pashinyan as the country's new prime minister on Tuesday.

The founder and head of Civil Contract party and lawmaker from the Yelk bloc, Pashinyan leads the street campaign against the ruling authorities, which has seen thousands of Armenians taking to the streets in massive protests in the past several weeks.

Former prime minister Serzh Sargsyan was forced to resign on April 23, and Pashinyan is now seeking the appointment as prime minister by the National Assembly of what he calls “the people’s candidate”, - i.e. himself - the formation of an interim government and snap parliamentary elections.

Pashinyan has promised to rid Armenia of corruption and poverty.

Demonstrations have been halted since Thursday after the ruling Republican party of Armenia pledged to support Pashinyan’s candidacy.