The closer the elections in Armenia, the more praise will be heaped on Moscow: Dmitry Rodionov

Dmitry Rodionov, Director of the Center for Geopolitical Studies at the Institute for International Research, shared his commentary with Alpha News on Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s visit to Moscow.

“The goal is entirely obvious. On the eve of the elections, it is to show that all the accusations currently leveled against him, that he is severing ties with Russia, Armenia’s historic partner, ally, and protector, which has saved the country on numerous occasions and is effectively the guarantor of its statehood, do not reflect reality. You can see that Pashinyan has lately been consistently accused of pursuing a policy that leads to a rupture with Russia, which would ultimately result in withdrawal from the CSTO and the EAEU, the removal of the Russian base from Gyumri, and so forth. Even among his own voters, the overwhelming majority hold pro-Russian views and favor friendship and allied relations with Russia. Even those who support the normalization of relations with Turkey and Azerbaijan remain broadly pro-Russian. It is precisely these voters who need to be shown that all these accusations do not reflect reality. Hence all those staged PR videos in which he says that Russia is our friend and that one should not think Armenia is trying to distance itself from Russia. These are purely staged productions, not spontaneously captured moments, but a pre-election PR campaign,” Rodionov noted.

According to him, Pashinyan is also seeking to demonstrate that Armenia is not making an unambiguous bet on the West or Turkey, but is attempting to pursue a multi-vector foreign policy.

“The visit to Russia comes against the backdrop of what amounts to a surrender of sovereignty to the United States and Turkey, and against that background it is necessary to show that Armenia is not placing an unambiguous bet on the West or Turkey and is trying to pursue a multi-vector policy, including maintaining friendly ties with its historic partner. At the same time, we see that the Armenian authorities continue to accuse Russia of allegedly attempting to interfere in the elections. A so-called contingent of European observers has now been invited, ostensibly to counter the aggressive interference of a third party, which is not named directly, but is clearly understood to mean Russia. Against this backdrop, there is also an attempt to rewrite history, to silence the topic of the Genocide, to push the Karabakh issue aside, to replace historical Armenia with the so-called ‘real Armenia’ promoted by Pashinyan. We know that open discussion is already underway about possible constitutional changes demanded by Aliyev. Against this backdrop, there is a need, so to speak, to ‘sweeten the pill’ and show that, despite everything, Armenia is still standing with Russia. And in my view, the closer the elections get, the more lavish the praise directed at Moscow will become,” Rodionov concluded.

Details in the video.