Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan early Monday claimed victory in a general election seen as a test of Russia’s influence in the South Caucasus state, as preliminary results showed his governing Civil Contract party came first with 49.81% of the vote. Pashinyan and the governing Civil Contract party were looking for a strong mandate for a new geopolitical course for Armenia, including distancing the former Soviet republic from Moscow, seeking to join the European Union and deepening