Narek Karapetyan: Pashinyan`s government, with its actions, is  creating a new "enemy" for Armenia in Russia

ArmInfo.Armenia has not yet fully recovered from the 2020 war, yet it is already being pushed into creating a new adversary in the form of Russia. This was stated by Narek Karapetyan, a member of the political council of the "Strong  Armenia" bloc, in a conversation with journalists on July 31.

According to him, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan aims to  ensure that no one else in the country engages in politics except for  his appointed satellites. "However, it cannot be this way—we must  have the opportunity to engage in political activity in our country.  Because he (the Armenian Prime Minister — Ed.) is leading Armenia in  the wrong direction, exacerbating its relations with other  countries," Karapetyan believes.

The politician recalled how Pashinyan once similarly steered the  country toward an escalation of relations with Azerbaijan, which  ultimately led to the 2020 war. Today, in his view, the country is  once again heading toward escalation, but this time with a nation  that surpasses Azerbaijan in scale—Russia. As the bloc's political  council member reminded, in the case of Azerbaijan, this led to war.

"We have not yet managed to digest that war; why should we create a  new adversary? One cannot speak to the world driven by emotions. All  decisions must be balanced so that we do not face the same  consequences," Karapetyan stated.

Pashinyan must negotiate rather than complain, he noted. As an  independent country, Armenia must do everything possible to prevent  further deterioration of relations with other nations. Those who  welcome the escalation of ties with Russia today are the same people  who once welcomed the deterioration of relations with Azerbaijan  ahead of 2020, Karapetyan pointed out.

At the same time, he clarified that when speaking of a new  escalation, he does not mean a new war. Rather, he is referring to  deepening contradictions and an economic standoff.

"As we already stated during the pre-election period, the military  phase is over. The conflict has moved into a different phase," the  political council member explained.

Karapetyan also drew attention to the extensive presence of  Azerbaijanis and Turks in the region today. He believes a similar  scenario could happen to Armenia: first through economic presence,  and subsequently through political influence, potentially forming a  distinct sphere of influence within the country.

"Meanwhile, we must remember that 65% of Armenia's trade turnover is  tied to Russia. It is good that there is an Armenian shop in France;  I am glad for that. But will selling our apricots there ensure a  decent living for our villagers? The issue is not who is right and  who is wrong. The main thing is to independently conduct our own  policy, maintain emotional stability, and know how to negotiate. We  are a sovereign state—no one owes us anything, and we owe nothing to  anyone. But we are obligated to build our relations correctly.  Imagine, being a landlocked country, we managed to sell fish to  Russia, which is bordered by more than eight seas," Karapetyan  concluded.