Pundit: Armenia at center of clash between Russia, West due to premier

Armenia’s Alternative Projects Group member Vahe Hovhannisyan has written that there are major external players - Russia and the West.

“Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan managed to put our small country at the center of the conflict of interests between Russia and the West, and we will undoubtedly see the consequences,” Caliber.Az reports, citing Hovhannisyan’s message on Facebook.

“Russia is a complex, cumbersome country that has almost no ideas and tools for working in the XXI century. Until Russia understands that the main source of anti-Russian sentiment in Armenia is Russian politics, it will be very difficult for it to make effective decisions. The West’s task is to remember the peak of anti-Russian sentiment in Armenia and try to implement it,” he wrote.

Hovhannisyan wrote that new political realities, the power of a new quality or composition, which the West will strive for, are required to capitalise anti-Russian sentiments in Armenia. We must understand one thing - anti-Russian sentiments in society are not an end, they are just a means of achieving something important. The implementation of anti-Russian policy requires two important steps, namely, breaking institutional ties with Russia and the withdrawal of Russian capital from Armenia.

“Both processes are currently underway, but the pace could accelerate very soon. Russia must understand that all this applies to the Russian capital [including Russian-Armenian capital - mines, banks, factories, energy] and can have severe consequences,” the political analyst added.