Political analyst: Pashinyan's short-sighted policy led to Armenia's current troubles

Political analyst Arman Ghukasyan said at a meeting with journalists that the Armenian premier's policy became the basis for Armenia's nowadays troubles.

"The hostilities were stopped by the Tripartite Statement of the leaders of Armenia, Azerbaijan and Russia on 9 November, further stability in Garabagh was ensured by Russian peacekeepers. It seemed that the situation on the ground was heading towards stabilisation despite certain difficulties, but after the short-sighted policy of the Armenian authorities became the basis for the current troubles of Garabagh and Armenia," he said, Caliber.Az reports.

"The Pashinyan-led government began to openly gravitate towards Western platforms of conflict resolution. By that time, the EU had created the so-called Brussels format for normalising relations between Yerevan and Baku.

At the same time, Pashinyan officially recognised Garabagh as part of Azerbaijan when he adopted a joint agreement with Aliyev in Prague on October 6, 2022. And with this step, Pashinyan not only nullified the Tripartite Agreement of November 9 but also significantly weakened the position of the Armenian side in the conflict normalisation process. Pashinyan has lowered the bar of the Garabagh population's struggle from status only to the issues of security of the people in Garabagh," Ghukasyan reminded.

Against the backdrop of all this, he continued, anti-Russian sentiments in Armenian society have rapidly begun to gain momentum.

"Pashinyan and his government today are preparing to ratify the so-called Rome Statute, which implies the arrest of the Russian president, joint Armenian-American exercises are being held, but at the same time, Yerevan has been refusing CSTO exercises for a long time. Ratification of the Rome Statute will not give us anything but a breakdown of Armenian-Russian relations, it is a dangerous adventure. Moreover, it will do nothing in terms of allegedly punishing Azerbaijan, as the Armenian authorities are trying to present this step. It will only put us in front of new threats, creating new problems with Russia. This adventurist policy leads to disaster," he said.

Arman Ghukasyan suggested that Pashinyan trusted the West, which assured him that after concessions they would put pressure on Baku, but issues of personal well-being became more important for the West, as the West began to receive Azerbaijani gas and as a result Pashinyan and with him the Armenian interests were left with nothing. Ratcheting up anti-Russian sentiment today is a direct threat to Armenia, Ghukasyan believes, as no country in the world has actually supported Garabagh and Armenia.

As for the likelihood of Armenia leaving the CSTO, Ghukasyan pointed out that Armenia has not received any proposals from NATO or any other security systems. The CSTO may not be the most ideal organisation, but if Yerevan takes such a short-sighted step, Armenia will go nowhere without a new security system, which would be a disaster for Armenia, especially in such a region.