Zakharova commented on Solovyov's scandalous statement on Armenia

The official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, said that the words of journalist Vladimir Solovyov about Armenia and Central Asia were presented in a provocative way by sofa analysts.

Russian TV presenter Vladimir Solovyov said earlier that "the loss of Armenia is not in Russia's interests, and Russia should conduct a special military operation not only on In Ukraine, but also in the territories that make up the zone of influence of Russia. Russian Ambassador to Armenia Sergey Kopyrkin was summoned to the RA Ministry of Foreign Affairs, where he was handed a note of protest.

Firstly, Zakharova stressed, we are talking about the opinion of a journalist. Secondly, this opinion was expressed on the private channel "Solovyov LIVE," Zakharova said at a briefing on January 15.

"Thirdly, I read the quotes, I did not rely on phrases taken out of context, not on indirect speech. I relied on direct speech. So, this opinion was actually formulated in the form of a question. There was no statement. It was like a question, I don't know if it was rhetorical or something else, it's not for me anymore. Among other things, fourthly, these phrases were clearly, absolutely obviously, provocatively presented by sofa analysts almost as the official position of Russia. It is simply unacceptable to engage in such manipulations," the official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry said.

According to her, some commentators clearly took advantage of the opportunity "to release into the information space a whole series of conjectures and just outright speculations about the alleged presence of Russia, as I have even seen in some reports, has aggressive aspirations towards post-Soviet states."

"The official position is expressed by authorized officials. As for Russia's official position, it has been voiced by the Russian leadership more than a dozen times regarding our policy in the context of our common Soviet past, the post-Soviet space, and relations with sovereign states today… I will briefly state what has been said countless times: our country and the peoples of the states of the South Caucasus and Central Asia have historically been linked by relations of good neighborliness, strategic partnership, alliance, fraternal friendship and cooperation. The key to the progressive development of our relations is good, personal contacts between the leaders of friendly states on the basis of mutual respect and trust," Zakharova stressed.

She called for judging by deeds.

"How many times came to the rescue. How many times have you extended a helping hand, friendship. How many times have you shown the most sincere emotions when you empathized, sympathized. How many times have we been sincere when we shared joy, when we experienced common victories and victories of our colleagues and friends in the post-Soviet space together. How many times have we searched together for ways out of the most difficult, seemingly dead-end stories. How many times have misunderstandings or misunderstandings been overcome. How many times have we responded to provocateurs' calls and provocations? That's what we need to focus on... Provocations, unfortunately, there will be a lot of them. So let's see the real thing, and not buy into some fakes and fakes," the official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry urged.