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The «European Integration» NGO chairman Karen Bekaryan spoke to Panorama.am about the recent «trade war» between Russia and Ukraine which started after the Kremlin imposed a de facto embargo regime on imports of Ukrainian goods. The expert highlighted that, indeed, the statement of Russian presidential advisor Sergei Glazyev’s about recent developments in Russian-Ukrainian relations raises some concerns, though it shall be believed it has nothing to do with the official position of Russia. «Otherwise it may give start to a chain of quite difficult issues», - Bekaryan said

Flagging that there is quite controversial information of what has happened in the Ukraine-Russia border, Bekaryan urged to distinguish the factual circumstances from the background of those events, and asserted it is yet hard to say what has really happened in the customs.

«I am very upset to see the assessments of Russian presidential advisor Sergei Glazyev, and I don't think the media anyhow misrepresented it. [What he said about Ukraine] raises concerns, is not a pleasant thing to say, neither is civilized, but is quite puzzling» -- Bekaryan commented.

Rejecting the extreme opinions, Bekaryan elaborated that both in Ukraine and Armenia there are experts and analysts, who try to foresee possible steps of Russia in the scenario of signing the EU Association Agreements, and argued those authors are thus trying to «enhance their own reputation, which is not a right thing to do when it comes to your own country».

"This inspection [at the customs] was one-time. Conclusions have not been drawn yet, information is being processed. By now the situation has stabilized but for safety's sake we are preparing to tighten customs administration, in case Ukraine takes this suicidal step and signs the Association Agreement with the EU," Sergei Glazyev said earlier this week, according to Interfax news agency.

According to some media publications, with the speculations of tightening bilateral customs regime, Russia tries to force Ukraine to withdraw from signing the Association Agreement with the EU and join the Customs Union of Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan.