Armenia has been subjected to the pressure of the West in this matter as well. The official representative of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Maria Zakharova, stated this at a press briefing Wednesday and with respect to Armenia suspending the acceptance of Mir payment cards of Russia.
"The country's [i.e. Armenia’s] economy will suffer huge losses. The citizens of the country will face serious inconveniences, it will be more difficult for Armenians working in Russia to transfer money to [their] homeland, and [Russian] tourists [visiting Armenia] also will not be able to pay by card. Last year, let me remind, their number exceeded a million people. There are also other examples of how this will hit Armenia's economy. I am sure that, unfortunately, the damage of that step is much more than the hypothetical damage of Western restrictions," Zakharova said.
All the banks of Kyrgyzstan, in order to avoid secondary sanctions, stopped serving 'Mir' cards starting today.
The largest bank of Kazakhstan, Halyk Bank, has also stopped servicing 'Mir' cards since February.
