"Only pain can sober Armenia" Russian political analysts on Yerevan course

This is what the current political course of Yerevan looks like on the whole: to arrange a provocation and appear as a victim, to appeal to Russia and accuse it of inaction, to nullify the agreements and not to sign a peace treaty. It certainly cannot be called far-sighted. Including in relations with Russia. From time to time, Armenia hurls accusations at Moscow and sometimes even resorts to threats.

In the case of the installation of the Azerbaijani checkpoint in the Lachin region, Yerevan too, without a moment's thought, rushed to find a Russian trace. Thus, according to the Secretary of the Security Council of Armenia, Armen Grigoryan, "The Lachin corridor has been fully transferred to the Russian Federation, and at present it is the latter which bears full responsibility for the events taking place there". It is hard to imagine anything more absurd than these words if we take into account that Moscow is not at all concerned about Yerevan's whining now.

According to Daria Grevtsova, deputy director of the Russian Institute of Political Studies, Yerevan erroneously believes that the installation of the Azerbaijani checkpoint on the Lachin road has been coordinated with Moscow. She told Caliber.Az that Armenia is trying to influence Moscow in this regard, including by openly reproaching it.

"Recently, we can see that Yerevan is actively oriented towards the West, trying to cooperate with Europe and the US, and receiving some support from them. Everyone is well aware that the West needs Armenia to move away from Russia and be obsessed with an anti-Russian stance. Armenia is too greedy for support from the outside, and therefore due to the fact that Russia is not actively helping Yerevan now, while the US and Europe pretend that they are "for" Armenia and actively building up cooperation with it, Pashinyan is betting on the latter," Grevtsova noted.

According to her, Moscow has more than once drawn attention to the fact that Yerevan's antics contradict the friendly and partnership relations between Russia and Armenia. Suffice it to recall Pashinyan's behaviour at the CSTO meeting, his rejection of CSTO observers and his preference for European observers.

"All this shows that Yerevan is quite hostile towards Moscow. At that, pursuing such a toxic policy, Yerevan is trying to prove that Moscow is to blame for everything, to make it feel guilty that Karabakh is now Azerbaijani, and that Russia, in order to somehow redeem its guilt before Armenians, should influence Azerbaijan, in particular, to make Baku dismantle the checkpoint near the Khakari River. However, of course, Russia will not fall prey to Yerevan's white-washed manipulations," Grevtsova noted.

Vitaly Arkov, another Russian political analyst, head of information and analysis portal PolitRus, speaking to Caliber.Az recalled the character from Kipling's book "Jungle Book" nicknamed Tabaqui. In his opinion, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and his associates are very similar to this character in their statements and actions.

"Pashinian's entire political career has been a succession of subterfuges. But it is one thing to play the role of an opposition and anti-corruption activist (which, by the way, has increased manifold during Pashinyan's years in office) and quite another when the fate of millions of people depends on your words and actions. Unfortunately for the Armenian people, Pashinyan has not apprehended the weight of responsibility that his current position imposes on him. And he continues to resort to various tricks," the political analyst stressed.

By his definition, observing official Yerevan's U-turn towards the West and its claims towards Russia in the spirit of Armenia's Security Council Secretary Grigoryan's recent statement, I'd like to ask "Did your Western handlers help you?"

"I think this phrase will come to mind when the moment eventually arises to rename Yerevan to Iravan, and Moscow holds aloof from yet another rescue of Armenia in a situation that has become a consequence of Pashinyan's policies, tragic for the Armenian people. When people do not want to hear the wise words of their elders and more experienced ones, when they are arrogant and bite the hand that feeds them, only pain can teach them a lesson. No matter how cruel such a 'lesson' may look.

And yet there are enough sensible and truly patriotic people in Armenian society who are not blinded by the utopian idea of 'Artsakh' and the mythical 'Great Armenia', but are focused on the formation of the greatness of their homeland through the growth of social and economic indicators, social harmony and good neighborly relations with all countries in the region," he summed up.