Armenia ranked in the top 10 for "friendliness" towards Russia in the  NRICD rating

ArmInfo.Armenia ranked the 9th  in the rating of friendliness in communications with Russia scoring 51.5  points. This marks an improvement  of one position compared to the same period in 2023, when Armenia held the 10th spot with 46 points. The rating was presented by the National Research Institute for the Development of Communication on February 26 on the website of the International Information Agency "Russia Today" based  on  monitoring the communication modes of post-Soviet countries.

As part of the presentation, the characteristics of different modes  and trends in development were provided, and the "pain points" of  communication with Russia were identified.  Based on study results,  the friendliest country for Russia is South Ossetia, scoring 94.8  points and taking the top spot. Belarus follows in second place with  88.6 points, then Abkhazia with 75.9 points. The top ten friendly  countries also include Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan,  Tajikistan, Azerbaijan, Armenia, and Turkmenistan. Georgia has been  considered relatively friendly for the second year in a row, ranking  11th with 15 points. Moldova and the Baltic countries are seen as  unfriendly.

 Regarding media-political communications conditions, Valentina  Komleva, Deputy Director for Research at the Research Institute of  the Russian Academy of Sciences and a Doctor of Sociology, stated  during the presentation that the most unfavorable conditions for  media-political communications are found in Armenia.  "Economic  communications are developing on a purely pragmatic basis. Armenia's  priority in relations with Western countries has somewhat limited the  opportunities for Russian-Armenian scientific and educational  communications," Komleva said. According to her, this was  particularly evident at the end of 2023 and the beginning of 2024.  However, in the second half of 2024, the situation softened, and the  number of projects in  education, science and culture increased  again, as the deputy director pointed out.

According to her, public sentiment towards Russia in Armenia  fluctuated sharply last year due to the influence of information  content.  This study, conducted for the fourth consecutive year in a  row, is being carried out by the National Research Institute for  Communication Development. Over 400 foreign and Russian experts are  participating in the research.