Pashinyan apologizes, says he respects wife's decision to separate

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has apologized to his wife, Anna Hakobyan, after she announced their separation.

In a video posted on social media on Friday morning, Hakobyan revealed that she was ending her common-law marriage with Pashinyan and would be leaving the government residence.

Responding to her announcement, Pashinyan said he respected her decision: "For the past 30 years, in all my difficult days, she has been by my side, my support and my pillar. I am not sure whether I have been the same for her. Perhaps I have caused more bitterness, for which I apologize."

The couple, who were never legally married, had lived together in a common-law partnership for nearly 30 years. Earlier this month, Hakobyan had issued a brief statement about the end of their marriage, which some media outlets mistakenly interpreted as news that they had formally married.