Arthur Khachikyan: By sending aid to Ukraine, we sour our relations with Russia

Political expert Arthur Khachikyan considers Armenia’s decision to send humanitarian aid to Ukraine within the framework of renouncing Russia and changing its foreign policy towards the West.

“With this step, we once again sour our relations with Russia. We demand Russia to fulfill its obligations, but we spoil our relations with it for 5 years in a row and then we are surprised that Russia does not help us. By doing so, Armenia wants to show the West that it wants to be with it.

It can be accepted if there are real steps from the West, not just speeches. If the steps were real, it might be possible to replace Iran and Russia, and deploy American forces instead. But we should not forget that the West already has its ally here, Turkiye, which has greater resources than us,” Arthur Khachikyan told Alpha News.

The political expert believes that what is happening in Ukraine is painful and tragic, but he also reminds that it is a consequence of wanting to join NATO.

“Unfortunately, the Ukrainian authorities believed that they will join NATO, that NATO will help them. And Ukraine was destroyed precisely because of believing in those promises. Of course, helping people is a good thing, but we help a government that congratulated Azerbaijan for winning the 44-day Artsakh war, a government that provided phosphorus bombs to Azerbaijan during the war,” Arthur Khachikyan noted.

To remind, Azatutyun radio station reported a few days ago that Armenia will send humanitarian aid to Ukraine for the first time since the Russian-Ukrainian war. The aid will be delivered by the first lady, Anna Hakobyan. The government has not officially confirmed this information, but has not denied it either. Yesterday, Anna Hakobyan participated in the annual summit of First Ladies and Gentlemen in Kyiv, held for the third year in a row at the initiative of the first lady of Ukraine. Yesterday, she published photos on her Facebook page and said that she paid tribute to the memory of the children died in the war.

The political expert also considered welcome the possible visit of French President Emmanuel Macron to Armenia, at the same time emphasizing that we should expect serious proposals rather than be excited about it.

“It is necessary to look realistically and understand what he will offer to Armenia. Is France ready to declare that it will ensure the security of Armenia, is it ready to deploy military forces in our territory, is it ready to declare that it will not allow ethnic cleansing in Artsakh, and is it ready to confront Turkiye for us? Those questions must be answered,” Arthur Khachikyan said.

To remind, the Alpha News source in France has reported that President Emmanuel Macron will most likely visit Armenia in the coming weekend with something new to say about the resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh issue. According to the source, the French president will also visit Baku.