If Nikol Pashinyan is re-elected as prime minister, Armenia will become a province of Azerbaijan. The Strong Armenia party’s prime ministerial candidate, businessman and philanthropist Samvel Karapetyan, stated during a press conference Thursday, answering the question of whether he intends to turn Armenia into a province of Russia.

“We will make Armenia the most developed, active, beautiful, and rich country. The rest, it's about them [i.e. the authorities]. As soon as Pashinyan is elected [again], we [i.e. Armenia] will not become a province of Russia, but a province of Azerbaijan. He [i.e. Pashinyan] is now acting as a governor of Azerbaijan,” Karapetyan stated.

But he declined to comment on the recent meeting between Russian President Putin and Pashinyan, which received a lot of attention, only noting that it is not right to comment on the words of the leaders with whom one should work.

“Armenia’s dependence on Russia is now at its peak,” Karapetyan said, referring to economic dependence. To confirm this, he noted that remittances from Russia to Armenia are equivalent to the latter’s budget. “Even if I wanted to, I cannot do such a thing,” Karapetyan added.

“Russia has been and will be Armenia’s strategic ally, the main economic partner. There are no other options. It is impossible to do this by pressing a button. Over the years, you will see how we [i.e. Armenia] conquer new markets and how dependence decreases,” Karapetyan promised.

Regarding the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), he noted: “When the authorities [of Armenia] make statements in ‘diapers’… I don’t want to comment. How many years have they been said? Could they leave? Are they afraid? Why don’t they leave [the CSTO]?” Samvel Karapetyan recalled that Armenia is not a member of another military organization.