Pashinyan on Republic Day parade: Armenia learned its military lessons PHOTO/VIDEO

28 May 2026 11:03

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said Armenia has “learned the lessons of the army’s history” as he outlined a new defence doctrine and declared a shift toward a more stable statehood model during Republic Day military parade in Yerevan.

“We are marking Republic Day 2026 under entirely new historical circumstances. Peace has been established following a conflict lasting almost 35 years between the Republic of Armenia and the Republic of Azerbaijan,” Pashinyan said, Caliber.Az reports via Armenian media.

He said the country was moving beyond long-standing uncertainties about statehood and focusing on permanence and institutional stability.

"Peace is what the First Republic of Armenia lacked in order to preserve and develop its independence. And the absence of peace was the key reason why the three countries of the South Caucasus, having declared independence together in 1918, lost that independence one after the other in 1920.

Today, we are overcoming the complex of the state’s transience, which has remained since the days of the First Republic, and are embracing the agenda of the state’s longevity, guided by the logic that the state of Armenia must exist forever. The establishment of peace, its further institutionalisation, and the development and strengthening of the state’s legal foundations are our strategic priorities.

Today, the Army of the Republic of Armenia is a factor not of war, but of peace, because a country without a capable and strong army may be vulnerable to aggression,” he stated.

Pashinyan added that today they are presenting to everyone the new Army of the Republic of Armenia — with new weapons, in new uniforms and with a new ideology.

He also presented what he called a reformed military doctrine and defence posture.

“The core of this ideology is as follows: the army’s sole task is to defend the internationally recognised sovereign territory of the Republic of Armenia, and our army must not be deployed outside Armenia’s internationally recognised territory, with the exception of peacekeeping missions carried out on the basis of international treaties," he said.

Pashinyan also noted that reforms since 2022 had reshaped Armenia’s defence capabilities and international military cooperation, including increased access to arms markets and major investment in the defence sector.

"Until 2022, international markets for arms and military equipment were largely closed or difficult for the Republic of Armenia to access, as international partners refused to supply arms to the Republic of Armenia, citing their conviction that Armenia would use such weapons outside its internationally recognised territories. It was only following the agreements reached in Prague on October 6, 2022, when Armenia and Azerbaijan recognised each other’s territorial integrity on the basis of the 1991 Almaty Declaration, that the international arms market opened up to Armenia," he said.

Speaking about the military parade, he noted that one of the key focal points of the parade is the weapons and military equipment manufactured in the Republic of Armenia.

"At today’s military parade, weapons and military equipment manufactured in around seven countries will be on display, and this geographical scope of military-technical cooperation is the result of a policy based on the ideology of a realistic Armenia. One of the key focal points of the parade is the weapons and military equipment manufactured in the Republic of Armenia, which are now taking their first, yet confident, steps towards establishing a firm foothold in the international market.

Since 2022, the Government of the Republic of Armenia has invested around 170 billion drams [$461.8 million] in the defence industry, and today we have results of which we can be proud. The Republic of Armenia has learnt the lessons of the army’s history," Pashinyan stated.