If you analyze all our statements, you can see that the ANC has never made any statement in support of [PM] Nikol Pashinyan or his government. The deputy chairman of the Armenian National Congress (ANC) party, Levon Zurabyan, said this in an interview with RFE/RL.

Zurabyan responded to the remark that initially the ANC supported Nikol Pashinyan, its various members, including Vladimir Karapetyan, were appointed to government positions, but now the ANC criticizes the incumbent authorities. "If you analyze all our statements, you can see that the Congress has never made any statement in support of Nikol Pashinyan or his government. We have always presented alternative programs, we have always presented criticism toward the establishing democracy in Armenia. As for the appointment of Vladimir Karapetyan, it was his personal decision which had nothing to do with the ANC's position. We have reached an agreement with him that Vladimir Karapetyan is suspending his membership in the ANC in order to be able to take a seat in Nikol Pashinyan's government. "

Referring to Nikol Pashinyan's statement made in the parliament on April 14 that First President Levon Ter-Petrosyan had told him in July 2018, "You have to give the lands already," in connection with the Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh) conflict Zurabyan said. "I must state with sorrow that the leader of Armenia is a liar. There was no such thing, it is an absolute lie. If he wants to save his standing, we suggest bringing any evidence that Ter-Petrosyan said such a thing. We are other representatives of negotiations or state policy; of course, we do not open the content of confidential conversations. Something completely different was said."

To the clarifying question, that is, was there no talk about lands, Zurabyan said that it was an absolute lie.

Levon Zurabyan noted that Ter-Petrosyan's position on the settlement of the Karabakh issue is known and it has not been changed. "We have always talked about the danger of war. For some reason, we, not being in power, could have done these analyzes, whereas Nikol Pashinyan, being in power since 2018, should have known 15 times more than us, and it is not clear, or maybe it is clear, why Nikol Pashinyan failed this analysis and pulled Armenia into the devastating war."

When asked whether it was destructive before Nikol Pashinyan, Zurabyan responded: "Before referring to Nikol Pashinyan's fault, we can also talk about what the former leaders are guilty of. But we should not consider that all this justifies Nikol Pashinyan. Let me present with a simple example as to what Nikol Pashinyan's fault is. He had written an article, entitled ‘The Causes of the 44-Day War,’ which was followed by the response of OSCE Minsk Group [Russian] Co-Chair [Igor] Popov. This is the first document which actually reveals what the plan [the Russian FM Sergey Lavrov’s plan] by the co-chairs put on Nikol Pashinyan's table in July 2019 envisioned. Nikol Pashinyan rejected this plan in the most short-sighted ways, in fact challenging the whole world, saying that ‘What was on the negotiating table is unacceptable to me, I have to start from my point;’ that is, Pashinyan wanted to wrap his ‘own point’ around the world’s neck. Popov says that both Armenia and Azerbaijan accepted these proposals as a blueprint of possible agreement, but then Nikol Pashinyan came and said, ‘I do not accept anything like that, I will not negotiate at all until you let Karabakh sit around the [negotiating] table and other preconditions.’ He essentially rejected the negotiations."

Zurabyan stressed that the Turkish-Azerbaijani attack on Artsakh could have been prevented through negotiations. "Nikol Pashinyan himself has said several times that, ‘I could have given the five districts, solve the issue, but in exchange they were not giving me the independence of Karabakh;’ that is, it turns out that he knew very well that by accepting this plan he could have established peace. But why did he not do that? Why did he lead our people to a one-sided massacre? He did not have the courage, the wisdom, to solve this issue from a position that was most convenient for him, when all the people listened and trusted him. ”

And touching upon the snap parliamentary elections slated for June 20 and asked whether the ANC will run in them, Levon Zurabyan said that now they are preparing for their party congress, holding regional meetings, trying to assess their resources, capacities, and the people's demand for the ANC’s running in this voting. "But this work is not over yet, and we do not have a decision yet," he added.