Pundit: Pashinyan would like Russian soldiers to fight for Armenia with Azerbaijan
Caliber.Az talks to Daria Grevtsova

INTERVIEWS  05 September 2023 - 15:53

In an interview with the Italian newspaper La Repubblica, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan criticised Russia, accusing it of a number of transgressions against Yerevan. In particular, he once again complained about the CSTO, saying that Armenia could not use its position as a member state of the bloc to confront Azerbaijan, and now Moscow does not want to control the Lachin road, and in general, does not want to fully participate in regional processes.

Deputy Director of the Institute for Political Studies, Russian political scientist Daria Grevtsova, commenting on Pashinyan's statements to Caliber.Az, called his provocative outburst towards Russia unjustified and devoid of common sense.

"Nikol Pashinyan's sharp and negative statements in an interview with an Italian publication did not go unnoticed in Moscow and undoubtedly irritated it. It is clear that Pashinyan is a pro-Western protégé has reached power thanks to his connections abroad, and is now actively promoting the policy of Armenia's separation from Russia. Although, most likely, the Armenian Prime Minister would like to play a double game, serving both the West and Russia, but, as we can see, he is not succeeding.

This is also the reason for his harsh statements about the CSTO. Obviously, official Yerevan is annoyed that the organisation did not intervene and protect Armenia. However, Armenia completely ignores the fact that CSTO had a justified reason to refuse. It is known that all CSTO member states adhere to the principle that Garabagh is part of Azerbaijan, which means that Yerevan was naive to expect support from the military bloc. The CSTO could have provided assistance to Armenia if the country faced a real security threat, not when it was the territory of another state.

I admit that the Armenian prime minister would very much like to see Russian soldiers fighting for Armenia's interests while he cooperates with the West. But it doesn't work that way. Russia, in its turn, is closely watching the processes in Armenia and draws the appropriate conclusions, including noticing that openly anti-Russian statements of the Armenian leader are voiced not somewhere on the sidelines, but directly through authoritative foreign media outlet," Grevtsova points out.

Therefore, Pashinyan's dissatisfaction with the fact that Russia did not in any way prevent Azerbaijan from establishing a checkpoint on the Lachin road is, in her opinion, a complete absurdity.

"Firstly, because Pashinyan himself personally recognised that Garabagh is the territory of Azerbaijan. Secondly, Azerbaijan, accordingly, has the right to establish a checkpoint on its territory without asking permission from anyone - neither Russia, much less Armenia nor any other country. Thirdly, the establishment of a checkpoint was necessary because Azerbaijan's natural resources were being illegally plundered, and illegally exported to enrich the Armenian authorities. For Armenia, the establishment of the checkpoint was a real shock, which, in fact, forced it to inflate the fiction of 'blockade' and 'starving Armenians', which, of course, does not correspond to reality. For the same purpose, Armenia is preventing the opening of the Aghdam-Khankendi road, as it understands that if it recognises the validity of this route, it will have to fully agree to all of Azerbaijan's conditions.

Accordingly, I do not see any serious preconditions for a change of power in Armenia so far. As for the Garabagh clan, it is not popular among the population, and the revanchist forces, which also prevail in Armenia, are unable to fundamentally affect the internal political situation in the country. So the more Pashinyan's aggressive rhetoric towards Russia continues, the more Russia will support Azerbaijan.

On the other hand, it is important that Baku, unlike Yerevan, is a predictable partner with whom Russia has close relations, so there are more prerequisites for cooperation with Azerbaijan than with Armenia, which constantly criticises Russia. We can say that Armenia itself is pushing Russia into the arms of Azerbaijan," Grevtsova said, warning that Armenia does not need a big war, as Azerbaijan is many times stronger.

Caliber.Az