“Putin is the only person in the world who believes Armenia can still be saved”: Alexander Semchenko

Alexander Semchenko, a political analyst, commented to Alpha News on the latest phone call between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan.

According to the expert, the very fact of renewed contact between the leaders indicates the Russian side’s desire to preserve the possibility of dialogue.

“Another conversation between Putin and Pashinyan means only one thing: Putin is a very kind and very optimistic person. He is perhaps the only person in the world who believes that Armenia can still be saved from itself, and he is trying to bring Pashinyan to his senses,” Semchenko noted.

According to the political analyst, doing so is extremely difficult, since, in his view, the Armenian prime minister does not act independently.

“Although I understand that it’s impossible to bring Pashinyan to his senses, if only for the simple reason that Pashinyan doesn’t belong to himself and operates according to entirely different scripts imposed on him by, let’s say, his handlers. Putin most likely understands this too, but he’s hoping for and trying to use one last, very last chance,” Semchenko said.

According to the expert, there are no fundamental reasons for confrontation between Russia and Armenia, but improvement in relations should not be expected.

“You know, there are no real contradictions between Russia and Armenia, and there would be nothing to escalate if the process were developing naturally. But there are contradictions that have been imposed from outside, and these contradictions, again, will be artificially escalated. I don’t see any improvement in relations between Armenia and Russia at the moment, or in the foreseeable future through the end of the year, much to my regret,” Semchenko concluded.