Pashinyan is literally deceiving everyone he can – Igor Semenovsky

Speaking with Alpha News, political scientist Igor Semenovsky commented on the current state of Armenian-Russian relations, as well as Russia’s relations with the US and the EU. According to the expert, Russia has traditionally been Armenia’s ally and defended its interests.

“The current Armenian leader maintains a rather inconsistent, contradictory, and hypocritical position. Discussions about whether Russia influenced, helped, or failed to help—and how much Russia is to blame for Armenia’s troubles under Pashinyan’s government—are, of course, quite hypocritical. Because Pashinyan’s own actions tell a different story. From the erasure of Armenian society’s national identity and Armenian statehood, including the de facto loss of Karabakh, to recent statements about Aliyev saying, ‘Azerbaijanis can return to Armenia—that’s fine, but if Armenians return to Karabakh, that would immediately create a conflict and a new problem for Armenia.’ This is an absurd policy,” Semenovsky said.

According to the expert, Russia is Armenia’s key trade and economic partner, and this partnership extends beyond economics to humanitarian and military-technical cooperation.

“We see that talk of so-called diversification often conceals a redirection that is often detrimental to the Armenian state, the Armenian budget, the energy sector, and even Armenian sovereignty itself. Russia has traditionally been Armenia’s ally, taking its interests into account in its relations with its neighbors, and seeking to protect both Christian values and Armenia’s economic opportunities. Therefore, if a leader speaks of diversifying grain or food supplies, why not talk about diversifying gas supplies? Why not declare that Armenia will import gas from Norway or Qatar—by air if not by sea? A leader has to be consistent, but we don’t see that. This is, unfortunately, the key trend of Nikol Pashinyan’s rule—he is literally deceiving everyone he can. And, unfortunately, the losers are not external players, but the Armenian people, who are witnessing budget deficits, declining living standards, and rising crime. These indicators should be used to judge who to cooperate with and what policies to pursue, rather than blaming Russia for all the troubles,” Semenovsky noted.