‘This government is pursuing its path, having started by betraying its own national interests in Nagorno-Karabakh’ – Konstantin Zatulin

First Deputy Chairman of the Russian State Duma Committee on CIS Affairs Konstantin Zatulin spoke to Alpha News about the Armenian leadership’s pro-Western course and noted that it will bring nothing but further damage.

“This is an element of the treacherous path that this government is pursuing, having started by betraying its own national interests in Nagorno-Karabakh. I am aware that secret negotiations are taking place with the United States and other Western countries to ensure that the signing of the Armenian-Azerbaijani agreement is influenced by Western efforts and conducted on Western platforms—perhaps even in the United States. All this is necessary to continue to convince the Armenian people in Armenia that this is the path we are now following. The law on forced accession to the EU has been adopted for the sake of this. The government seeks to portray relations with Russia and former CIS neighbors as a thing of the past, advocating instead for a future within a so-called ‘shining Western world.’ Unfortunately, it will bring nothing but further damage,” Zatulin said.

He also commented on Nikol Pashinyan’s upcoming visit to Turkey and rumors in Armenian media that Armenia’s geopolitical shift will be formalized during this visit.

“Now Iran, the very country that has acted as a key guarantor of territorial integrity, is under attack. At the very least, it has opposed Turkey and Azerbaijan’s push to establish a ‘Zangezur corridor’ through Armenian territory towards each other. I do not know what results Mr. Pashinyan’s visit to Turkey will lead to. He has already surrendered so much, including the fundamental fact of condemning the Genocide of the Armenian people—all in favor of his pivot to the West. The results of this visit may be different. But the question is not for him, I think it is pointless to ask him anything anymore. Personally, I believe that until the Armenian people themselves reach their own conclusions about Pashinyan, the stagnation in Russian-Armenian relations will persist,” Zatulin concluded.