The most important and dangerous points of Nikol Pashinyan’s statements

During the more than three-hour press conference, Nikol Pashinyan managed to answer dozens of questions. There were many factual inaccuracies and political manipulations in the answers; however, we highlight the most important, in our opinion, of Pashinyan’s words:

If earlier Nikol Pashinyan and members of his team said that “the red line for them is the territory of Armenia within 29,800 square kilometers”, today Pashinyan stated that the territory of Armenia is actually 29,743 square kilometers. So, speaking in the center of the capital, in the government building of the Republic of Armenia, without a military attack from Azerbaijan, Pashinyan reduced the territories of Armenia with one statement, trampling on the “red line” created by himself.

Nikol Pashinyan informed us about the imminent surrender of a number of territories to Azerbaijan in the Tavush region. A manipulative technique was used again, and it was stated that “Armenia is not going to surrender villages in the Tavush region”, but at the same time, it was said that Armenia plans to build new sections of roads to replace those that go beyond the borders of the Armenian SSR. “There are roads in the Tavush region, in particular, in the area of the village of Voskepar… A small section crosses this line and then enters the territory of Armenia again. In the past, during the talks, it was not excluded that it was possible to leave this site for Armenia, handing over the one of the same size in another area. But I came to the conclusion that we do not need to do this because it creates additional uncertainty. There are still several small sections that go beyond the borders of Soviet Armenia; they need to be rebuilt. I want to say that I have already ordered this. If necessary, I will go and explain to the residents of these villages what I think [about this] and why [I made such a decision],” Nikol Pashinyan said.

Having revealed the essence of Pashinyan’s statement, we come to a logical conclusion: Nikol Pashinyan openly admitted today that he will give away sections of the Armenia-Georgia highway to Azerbaijan. The route along which the Armenia-Georgia gas pipeline runs. Moreover, the surrender of these territories will destroy the defense line of the Tavush region, which has been built for years. The line that, according to many military experts, is the most prepared to counter the enemy.

Pashinyan considered the withdrawal of suits in the event of a peace treaty with Baku. “Yerevan can withdraw suits from international courts if a peace treaty with Baku is signed,” he said.

Remember that when Armenia ratified the Rome Statute, government officials said that this was done precisely to have leverage over Azerbaijan to hold it accountable in the international arena, and now they are openly saying that the suits will be withdrawn.
This, in turn, means that all those experts and politicians were right when they stated that the ratification of the Rome Statute is a political act aimed at demonstrating to Pashinyan’s Western partners that Armenia is no longer Russia’s ally, that Armenia is ready to carry out actions even against the Russian leadership. Pashinyan confirmed this thesis with his statement that the country is ready to withdraw suits against Azerbaijan.

While the CSTO “calls on the political leaders of Armenia to sobriety”, Nikol Pashinyan, during his press conference, not only outlined the country’s desire to quit the organization but also conveyed the idea that Russia and the Russian factor are the culprits of all Armenia’s troubles:

Russia did not help during the Genocide of 1915;
Russia provoked the 2020 war and, in general, “created the Karabakh problem to have leverage over Armenia”;
Russia tried to change the government in Armenia after November 9, 2020;
Russia’s last attempt to change power was in September 2023, when everything was done so that the Artsakh people would come to Armenia and carry out a change of power, etc.

Here we have a number of legitimate questions: if Nikol Pashinyan is right and if Russia has the ability to force Azerbaijan to attack Armenia, is it the right political strategy to completely break relations with Russia? Isn’t it logical to assume that if Pashinyan is right and Russia provokes Azerbaijan to aggression, then after leaving the CSTO, Russia will push Azerbaijan into a new war, and this is in a situation where the exit from the CSTO will free the organization from the obligation to protect Armenia?

Pashinyan covertly repeated the idea that Russia (which he called an “alien force” during the press conference) was trying to change power in Armenia and remove him from his position. Political manipulation must also have a limit. Nikol Pashinyan would not have become prime minister in 2021 if Russian President Vladimir Putin had not stated in his famous interview in November 2020 that “Pashinyan is not a traitor”. Pashinyan knows perfectly well that he would not have become prime minister if it were not for the loyal attitude of certain Kremlin towers toward Pashinyan during the 2021 elections. Nikol Pashinyan understands all this perfectly well, but instead of thanking Russia, he even accuses it of the Armenian Genocide of 1915…
Think about it.