Armenian prime minister's contradictory claims  A Show of Hypocrisy at the UN

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, speaking at the UN General Assembly session, once again staged a show, making contradictory statements about Yerevan’s supposed readiness to sign a peace agreement with Baku in the shortest possible time.

"The President of Azerbaijan and I have stated many times that at least 80 per cent of the mentioned Agreement has been agreed upon. Now, to seize this historic opportunity and to avoid the risk of reaching a deadlock, Armenia proposes to take what has already been agreed in the draft Agreement, sign it... We are ready to do this right now," he declared, adding that if the peace treaty contradicts the Armenian Constitution, then Yerevan will need to change it in the name of peace.

But then the Armenian prime minister, as they say, went off the rails.

"Azerbaijan, however, insists that the Constitution of the Republic of Armenia is an obstacle to the peace Agreement, because it allegedly contains territorial claims on Azerbaijan. Without going into details, let me say that there is nothing of this kind in our Constitution, there are no territorial claims on Azerbaijan, and we can provide detailed written proofs regarding this to all our international partners concerned. Moreover, it is the Constitution of Azerbaijan that contains territorial claims on the Republic of Armenia and we can present written argumentation on this as well to all our international partners concerned," Pashinyan said.

The Armenian prime minister, however, did not specify what kind of evidence he could provide to his Western partners. Here, it would be worth reminding Pashinyan of the words of Azerbaijan's Foreign Ministry spokesperson Aykhan Hajizadeh, who noted that, unlike Armenia's Constitution, the Constitutional Act on State Independence of 1991 and the Declaration of Independence of 1918, which are referenced in Azerbaijan's Constitution, contain no territorial claims against Armenia. “Which territories were part of Azerbaijan during the First Republic of Azerbaijan and when they integrated into Armenia are historical facts and these facts cannot be denied. Currently, this does not mean that there are any territorial claims against Armenia in Azerbaijan’s legislation,” Hajizada stated.

But Pashinyan didn’t stop there. He went on to say that after a peace agreement with Azerbaijan is signed, Armenia would need to submit the document to its Constitutional Court to ensure its compliance with the country’s Constitution.

“If our Constitutional Court decides that the Peace Agreement with Azerbaijan is in contradiction with the Constitution of the Republic of Armenia (even though our experts assure that it is not likely to happen), then we will face a specific situation where constitutional changes will be needed for the sake of achieving peace,” Pashinyan said.

The statements made by the Armenian prime minister lead to several conclusions. While Pashinyan presents himself as a proponent of a peace agreement, his real aim seems to be portraying himself as a peacemaker in the eyes of the international community, though the illogical policies of the Armenian authorities are nothing more than sheer hypocrisy. Indeed, Pashinyan seized yet another opportunity to mislead the global audience.

In New York, during his meeting with UN Secretary-General António Guterres, the Armenian prime minister, while discussing the peace agreement with Azerbaijan and speaking about the "importance of UN support for Armenia's efforts to achieve peace and stability in the region," didn’t miss the chance to bring up his infamous "Crossroads of Peace" project. In other words, Pashinyan tried to use the international platform to once again paint Armenia as a so-called peacekeeping nation in contrast to "Baku's aggressive policies."

At the same time, while publicly calling on Azerbaijan for peace, Pashinyan is actively pursuing a policy of militarization. It’s well known that the Armenian army has recently been bolstered with weaponry from India, France, and the United States. Specifically, by the end of 2024, Yerevan is set to receive the Indian Akash-1S air defence system.

It is worth recalling that back in August 2024, Caliber.Az reported that military cargo planes Boeing C-17, belonging to the US Armed Forces, delivered next-generation US-made weapons to Armenia’s military at Zvartnots Airport. This delivery was in accordance with the secret part of the document signed on April 5 in Brussels, which outlines military cooperation between Armenia and the US The shipment included sniper rifles, night vision devices, special communication equipment, body armour for Armenian special forces, strike mini-drones, compact mines used by the US Army, and other ammunition.

Additionally, Armenia received modern French CAESAR 155-mm self-propelled artillery units (12 units) and their components. On top of that, the Armenian military was supplied with dozens of R511 and R530 air-to-air missiles, 30 ERYX anti-tank missiles, dozens of German-made DM32 grenade launchers, and Panzerfaust 3 anti-tank systems. Moreover, Armenia’s armed forces were equipped with around 500 French-made single-use Apilas rocket launchers and 50 American BGM-71 TOW anti-tank missile systems.

All of this indicates that the leadership of Armenia is turning the country into a platform for the West. It is important to note that this process is furthered by the European Union's spy mission operating in Armenia.

Additionally, it’s worth highlighting that, thanks to the financial backing of a powerful Armenian lobby in the legislative bodies of the US and Europe, attacks on Azerbaijan continue unabated, resolutions supporting Armenia are being passed, and representatives of the dissolved junta are even being received in Congress and the State Department.

In Yerevan, there is a naive belief that under pressure from Washington and Paris, Baku will compromise on its principles. At the same time, it is clear that the Armenian government is being dishonest when it claims that it can amend the Constitution after Baku and Yerevan sign a peace agreement. By resorting to yet another gambit, Yerevan is attempting to exploit this issue, referencing the upcoming COP29 conference set to take place in Baku in November. It is unnecessary to reiterate that Yerevan's absurd manoeuvre will not succeed. Baku has made it clear that any talk of a peace agreement is out of the question without a revision of the Armenian Constitution, and it will not change its position.