Hraparak: Armenian ex-president asks Kremlin for money to win 2026 elections

Several days ago, former Armenian President Robert Kocharyan met with the Kremlin’s Armenia overseer, Deputy Head of the Russian Presidential Administration Sergey Kiriyenko, in Moscow to discuss the republic’s domestic political issues, including the upcoming elections.

Kocharyan presented Kiriyenko with his “formula for success” in the elections, which he said lies in consolidating the opposition and confronting the authorities with the broadest possible front — something that also implies financial expenditures, Caliber.Az reports, citing Yerevan-based daily Hraparak.

“The Kremlin official did not take on any concrete commitments; moreover, he practically made it clear that they have washed their hands of Armenia,” the newspaper claimed.

Since 2021, Kocharyan leads the "Armenia" Alliance (7% in 2021 elections), blending his Armenian Revolutionary Federation-Dashnaktsutyun (ARF-D) allies with conservative factions. In a February 2025 press conference—his first in 2.5 years—Kocharyan declared the "start of election season," vowing an "active" 2026 challenge to Pashinyan, whom he accuses of "losing" Karabakh in the 2020 and 2023 wars. Polls show his bloc at ~8–12% support, far behind CC's ~50% but tapping into 28% undecided voters disillusioned with Pashinyan's peace push with Azerbaijan.

By Khagan Isayev