Armenia won’t be able to sit on two chairs: Andrey Perla

Andrey Perla, political scientist, commented to Alpha News on the phone conversation between Nikol Pashinyan, prime minister of Armenia, and Vladimir Putin, president of Russia.

According to the expert, Pashinyan has found himself in a political trap between Russia and the EU.

“Nikol Pashinyan is in an extremely difficult, ambiguous and uncomfortable political position. He understands perfectly well that an open course toward severing all relations with Russia would lead to catastrophic consequences for Armenia. Already we’re talking about the loss of at least 2% of GDP as a result of ending exports to Russia of a relatively small volume of Armenian goods and a relatively small range of Armenian products. However, by pretending that he is still a multi-vector politician, that he cooperates with both the European Union and Russia, Pashinyan is driving himself into a trap, because his duplicity is too obvious. And Russia is in no way interested in maintaining the illusion of friendly relations. Russia doesn’t need an illusion, Russia needs full-fledged allied relations. Or, as they say, ‘get out,'” Perla said.

According to the expert, Moscow demands clarity from Yerevan on the question of its foreign policy course.

“That’s precisely why President Putin insists literally that if you want to leave Russia, then this needs to be done, and you need to stop sitting on two chairs. That’s precisely why Pashinyan, in turn, is trying to delay holding a referendum in Armenia as much as possible. He understands perfectly well that he doesn’t have a majority to abandon Russia in favor of the European Union. Since we’re talking about extremely hostile relations between the EU and Russia, essentially, about the war that the united West is waging against us, Armenia is effectively choosing a side in these military actions. Armenia cannot sit on the sidelines. It must either commit betrayal toward Russia, or declare that it remains an ally of Russia with all the consequences that follow. This is precisely what’s at stake every time we see negotiations between Pashinyan and Putin,” Perla concluded.