Armenia’s illusion of sovereignty: From Russia’s outpost to political farce

Artak Zakaryan, a member of Armenia’s Republican Party (RPA), made a loud statement that can only be described as an ode to absurdity, accusing the current government of surrendering the country’s independence. 

“We said goodbye to real independence in 2018 — with the power grab against Serzh Sargsyan, organised with the support of external forces,” he said. 

The conclusion is, without a doubt, astounding in its absurdity, but before passing judgment, let’s take a look at some highlights from the biography of this unfortunate orator.

Artak Zakaryan, a graduate of the Faculty of Mathematical Cybernetics and Research Automation at Yerevan State University, presents himself both as a political analyst and a loyal, diligent member of the Republican Party. Within the party, led by Armenia’s third president Serzh Sargsyan, he held various roles, starting as head of the RPA’s press and public relations service. However, with the backing of such a powerful patron as Sargsyan — nicknamed “Cheburashka” — Zakaryan quickly climbed the ranks. He became chief of staff at the Ministry of Diaspora, later served as a member of the National Assembly representing the RPA, and was appointed chair of the Standing Committee on Foreign Relations. In April 2017, he was even named Armenia’s First Deputy Defence Minister.

It’s anyone’s guess how far Zakaryan might have climbed if Serzh Sargsyan had stayed in power. But the reality is that today, he holds no position and has no real political influence. The 2018 “revolution” cut short his upward trajectory, leaving him with a deep personal grudge against Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and his team — so much so that he seems to have lost his appetite entirely. It’s no wonder, then, that he resorts to crude distortions of the truth, trying to paint a version of events that has little to do with reality.

The reality, meanwhile, is that Armenia’s loss of independence began long before 2018 — and with the full backing of the very circles Zakaryan himself belongs to. More specifically, the country’s real dependence on external power centers took root during the formation of the Karabakh clan, which fully entrenched itself in Yerevan with the rise of Robert Kocharyan.

In the early 2000s, key sectors of Armenia’s economy — from power grids and gas infrastructure to telecommunications companies and factories — were handed over to Russia in exchange for the partial cancellation of the country’s state debt. This was done under the so-called “debt-for-assets” scheme, with Moscow setting the terms. As a result, Armenia effectively gave up its economic sovereignty, becoming little more than an economic appendage of Russia in the South Caucasus.

At the time, senior Russian politician Boris Gryzlov made an unequivocal remark: “Armenia is Russia’s outpost in the South Caucasus.” Neither Robert Kocharyan, Serzh Sargsyan, nor any other Armenian leader challenged this humiliating label. On the contrary, they repeated it with pride, viewing dependence on Moscow as something entirely normal. It’s unlikely that Zakaryan has forgotten all this — but he’s deliberately shifting the blame onto Pashinyan and his team.

Looking back at the foreign policy maneuvers during Sargsyan’s time, it’s worth mentioning the following fact from 2013. For several years, the Armenian leadership openly expressed its intention to sign an Association Agreement with the EU, with all the necessary documents prepared and final negotiations underway. But everything changed after Sargsyan’s September meeting with Vladimir Putin. Without any discussion with parliament, public dialogue, or clear explanations, Sargsyan abandoned European integration and announced Armenia’s entry into the Eurasian Economic Union — an initiative completely controlled by the Kremlin.

If this isn’t an example of external control, then what else can be called a loss of independence? The country gave up its own geopolitical choice in exchange for political “loyalty” to Moscow. But for obvious reasons, Zakaryan prefers not to recall these openly shameful moments from Serzh Sargsyan’s presidency. He has a very different agenda.

Today, Armenia is a country stripped of many attributes of true sovereignty. Its foreign policy now swings between different centers of power, but the roots of this dependence go far deeper than 2018. They trace back decades to a time when orders from Moscow were unquestioningly carried out in Yerevan, and when Armenia’s leadership willingly made concessions just to stay “in Moscow’s good graces."