Armenia still maintains strong ties with Russia, but its goal is to diversify markets, routes and partnerships, Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan said during the Yerevan Dialogue international forum.

“For decades, if not centuries, we always believed that in this hostile environment we needed a strong big brother, a friend who could protect us,” he said, according to Panorama.am .

Mirzoyan noted that this perception has now changed.

“When the time came and we truly needed the protection of that big friend, the assistance did not arrive, and this significantly changed our foreign policy outlook among citizens, not to mention political institutions and elites,” the minister said.

“Now it seems we have somehow succeeded and want to continue in this direction. We have managed to reduce our dependence politically, economically and energetically, and to diversify our connections away from a single center while expanding the number of our partners,” he added.

Mirzoyan also stated that Armenia has established strategic partnerships with the European Union, China, and Kazakhstan, while developing very close relations with India.