Gyumri tragedy unlikely to affect Armenia’s relations with Russia - FM Lavrov

MOSCOW, January 21. /TASS/. Last week’s outrageous massacre in the Armenian city of Gyumri, to which Russian soldier Valery Permyakov has confessed, will not affect relations between Russia and Armenia, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Wednesday. “Everything necessary will be done for the investigation of this tragedy,” Lavrov said speaking at his annual news conference. “I am sure that Russian-Armenian relations will not be harmed.” The top Russian diplomat also said that attempts of politicizing the Gyumri tragedy were inadmissible. “There are attempts to politicize [the incident] and they come not from Yerevan, not from Armenia,” Lavrov said. “This is inadmissible and unworthy of the Armenian people, who would never yield to such provocations.” The Russian foreign minister expressed his condolences over the tragic deaths in the Avetisyan family. “We mourn together with Armenia and will do everything so that this crime will not to be left without the punishment and that the guilty will be punished heavily,” Lavrov said. The top Russian diplomat said that the trial into the massacre would be held on the territory of Armenia in collaboration with Russia and will be open and transparent. “I am confident that the court will bring down an unbiased and adequate verdict - adequate to this appalling crime,” Lavrov added. According to investigators, on January 12 Valery Permyakov, a private serving at the Russian military base in Armenia, fled his post carrying arms and cartridges. Later on, he broke into a private house in Gyumri, Armenia’s second largest city, and shot dead a family of six, including a two-year child, and wounded a six-month baby, who later died in a hospital. Permyakov left his uniform and footwear with badges and his submachine gun and munitions and fled the scene. He was arrested on the same day by Russian border guards while trying to cross Armenia’s border to Turkey and confessed to the crime. If convicted, the soldier faces a life sentence or some 20 years in jail. A wave of protests hit the country following the mass killing of the Avetisyan family demanding that Permyakov should face trial in Armenia. Earlier this week, Russian President Vladimir Putin told Sargsyan in a phone conversation he was confident that the investigation would be held promptly and those responsible would be brought to justice. Read more