Armenia, which is bound by a military alliance and economic union with Russia, is looking for new partners because Moscow has not fulfilled its alliance obligations, especially during Azerbaijan's seizure of Nagorno-Karabakh last month. According to The Wall Street Journal, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan stated this during his interview with the daily.

"These situations, in fact, led us to a decision that we need to diversify our relations in the security sector; and we're trying to do that now," he said. Pashinyan added that for this reason he does not see any advantage in continuing the presence of Russian military bases in Armenia.

In the interview, Pashinyan said that he continues to look optimistically at the prospect of achieving a peaceful settlement with Azerbaijan in the coming months. The future of the region, according to him, should be the opening of closed borders and trade routes, including the road connection between Turkey and Azerbaijan passing through Armenia—but as long as Armenia's sovereignty is respected.

“Our understanding is not that it is necessary to provide security only with the army, but also to go for peace in the region,: he said.

In response to the question about Armenia’s historical relations with Russia, Pashinyan urged instead to pay attention to Armenia’s longer history with the Turkic states: Azerbaijan and Turkey.

"Here are all the questions and here are the answers to all the questions," he said. "First of all, to improve our relations in our region."

The diversification of security relations that Armenia strives for, Pashinyan added, should be understood as an aspiration to achieve lasting regional peace, and not just an expectation of the deployment of western military bases and weapons.