Now Pashinyan is doing everything to push Armenia further from Russia — Andrey Perla

Speaking with Alpha News, political commentator Andrey Perla commented on the results of the talks between Nikol Pashinyan and Ilham Aliyev in Abu Dhabi, the West’s goals in the South Caucasus region, and the worsening relations between Russia and Azerbaijan.

“Armenia cannot afford to build relations only with Azerbaijan. Armenia is at the intersection of the interests of the great powers of the region—Russia, Iran and Turkey. Even if for a second, as the current leader of Armenia, Mr. Pashinyan, does, we forget about all historical precedents, forget about the Genocide of the Armenian people, somehow say that we no longer remember the numerous wars and are only interested in the present, Armenia cannot afford to simply throw up its hands in front of Azerbaijan and Turkey and expect everyone else to passively observe,” Perla said.

According to the expert, Pashinyan is trying to replace Russia with the European Union.

“The negotiations that are being conducted today are forcing Armenia to take steps that are gradually making it an adversary of both Iran and Russia. If we look at Mr. Pashinyan’s policy, we will see that he is quite consistently trying to replace Russia with the EU in Armenian policy. It is doubtful that even Pashinyan believes that he can be friends with Turkey, but he may well believe that the EU, in particular France, is such a huge powerful force that can protect Armenia and can substitute the economic lifelines it relies on. But if we look at Armenia’s economy, especially its foreign trade, 80% of it is with Russia. Right now we are seeing a situation in which Russia is quite harshly showing Azerbaijan that it can operate without trade with it. Pashinyan, with every next action, is doing everything to push Armenia further from Russia, and this is not a benign policy; it’s one that is viewed negatively in Russia and could lead to serious economic challenges for Armenia,” Perla said.