This was reported by the publication “Panorama.am”, which is based on “Ukrinform”.
It is noted that this decision was prompted by violations of Articles 5 and 6 of the Moscow-Yerevan intergovernmental agreement on cooperation in the field of mass communication.
According to these articles of the agreement, the parties must not allow the programs of public television channels and radio stations to interfere in each other’s internal politics. The signatories of the treaty also undertook not to allow content offensive to each other’s states and nations to be broadcast.
Both shows are broadcast on the Russian TV channel RTR-Planeta. The channel will remain on the territory of Armenia in the public broadcasting network, but these two programs of Solovyov will no longer be shown.
Armenian banks said on Friday that they will no longer accept Russian Mir payment cards and carry out any transactions with them due to Western sanctions imposed on Moscow over its invasion of Ukraine.
US Treasury Department 2022 in September threatened foreign banks with secondary sanctions for working with Russia’s Mir payment card system. In February, the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control said Russia was using the system to avoid Western sanctions targeting Moscow’s financial system.
The Union of Armenian Banks announced that the country’s commercial banks “will stop serving Mir cards from Saturday, as they risk incurring secondary sanctions.” The exception will apply to Mir cards issued by the Armenian subsidiary of Russia’s state-controlled VTB Bank.
After the West imposed extensive sanctions on Moscow, the profits of Armenian banks tripled due to a sharp increase in money flows from Russia. Thousands of Russians fled to Armenia, fearing mobilization and a crackdown on dissidents. In addition, Armenian companies began re-exporting Western-made consumer goods to Russia.
From 2020 Having lost the war with Azerbaijan, Yerevan began to distance itself from Moscow. Relations soured further last year when Baku seized control of the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region in a blitzkrieg offensive. Yerevan is disappointed with Moscow for not being able to protect the country from the threats posed by Azerbaijan.
Last month, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said Armenia had suspended its participation in the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), the Moscow-led security alliance of several former Soviet republics, and was trying to build a partnership with Western countries, mainly France and the United States.
Ignoring Moscow’s warnings, the country officially joined the International Criminal Court (ICC), so now according to the 2023 the arrest warrant issued by the ICC in March would require the arrest of Russian President Vladimir Putin if he sets foot on the territory of Armenia.
