Russia’s top TV host threatens Armenia with military intervention

Russian state television host Vladimir Solovyov called for a potential Russian military intervention in Armenia during a broadcast on Sunday.

“For us, the developments in Armenia are far more painful than those in Venezuela. Losing Armenia is a huge problem,” Solovyov said. “We should get our goals straight. The time for games is over. To hell with international law and the global order.”

He also added that if Russia justified launching a “special military operation” in Ukraine on security grounds, it could do the same elsewhere.

“Special military operation” is the language Russian officials and pro-government media use to refer to Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

There was no immediate reaction from Armenia’s government or the foreign ministry.

Solovyov hosts a daily political talk show on Russian state television and also runs his own TV channel. His remarks reflect some of the most explicit public calls for intervention in Armenia aired on Russian state media in recent years.

This is not the first time Solovyov has used hostile rhetoric toward Armenia, either. Last June, on Russian public television, he attacked Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, referring to him as “Turkol” and warning that Armenia “might cease to exist as an independent country.”

Also read: Armenia lodges diplomatic protest over Russian TV broadcast attacking its leadership

Following the broadcast, Armenia’s government announced plans for legislative and technical measures to block Russian state propaganda in Armenia’s media space. The two countries are bound by a bilateral agreement that obliges both parties to prevent and refrain from hate speech and hostile rhetoric against each other on public television. As part of this deal, three Russian state TV channels are broadcast in Armenia on free-to-air television. The agreement was last renewed in 2021.

However, this provision has frequently been violated by the Russian side. Last January, Armenia summoned the Russian ambassador to formally protest remarks made on Russian state TV. The protest followed a broadcast of the Weekly News program on Russia’s state channel, during which host Dmitry Kiselyov echoed Azerbaijan’s stance on territorial demands toward Armenia and repeated President Ilham Aliyev’s aggressive rhetoric. Kiselyov escalated tensions further by concluding the segment with a threat, suggesting that Russia could cut off gas supplies to Armenia if Yerevan continued deepening its ties with the European Union.