On the eve of July 3, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Armenia congratulated the people of Belarus on Independence Day. The corresponding statement was posted on the page of the Foreign Ministry of the Transcaucasian Republic on the social network X.
"Congratulations to the friendly people of Belarus on Independence Day. Knowing about the significance of this day, including thanks to the contribution of the Armenian people to the liberation of Belarus (from Nazi Germany during the Great Patriotic War. - Ed.), we wish the people of Belarus peace and prosperity," the message reads.
Thus, for the first time in recent years, official Yerevan congratulated on Independence Day not the leadership of Belarus, but the people of a friendly country with which Armenia continues to be in the same military-political union (CSTO) and the Integration Economic Union (EAEU).
Last month, Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan met with opposition Belarusian politician Svetlana Tikhanovskaya in Vilnius.
Prior to that, the Armenian Foreign Ministry sent a protest note to Belarus after statements by the representative of the country's foreign ministry, Anatoly Glaze. The Armenian side considered the statements of the official representative of the Belarusian Foreign Ministry to be "interference in the internal affairs of Armenia."
Speaking in the Parliament of the Republic on June 13, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said that neither he nor other officials of the republic will visit Belarus while Alexander Lukashenko is president there. Pashinyan explained his decision by the recent statements of the Belarusian leader about the 44-day war in Karabakh during his visit to Azerbaijan last month.
Later that day, the Armenian Foreign Ministry summoned Yerevan for consultations of Ambassador Razmik Khumaryan in Belarus. Minsk did the same — Ambassador Alexander Konyuk was recalled for consultations.