Member of the ruling Republican Party of Armenia Gagik Minasyan said that the authorities did not promise anything to the Armenian National Congress (ANC) opposition bloc regarding the incident with 7 young ANC activists in order to maintain the dialogue.

Minasyan refuted rumors that the authorities pledged to release 3 activists. “This is a legal process and the coalition is not authorized to interfere or comment,” he said, adding that the incident diverted the sides from the negotiations agenda.

Minasyan also noted that it’s absurd to call the detained ANC activists political prisoners.

As to Arman Musinyan’s statement that the incident can damage the talks, the RPA member slammed it as “irresponsible expression.”