There is a separation with Serzh Sargsyan, I did not agree with a number of steps, and since there was also a perception that we do everything together, I gave my interviews after the presidency so that there would be no such perception. The second president of Armenia, Robert Kocharyan, said this in an interview with several media outlets—and referring to his disagreements with third President Serzh Sargsyan.

"For example, I was against these Armenian-Turkish protocols, and I was giving interviews so that they would not say, ‘It’s all the same; they are together.’ At that time, I had no intention of returning to politics, I could have just relaxed and not given interviews. I have started giving interviews to emphasize that I have a different approach to these and other issues," Kocharyan said.

Referring to the fact that there were rumors that in 2008, former FM Vartan Oskanian was the candidate for his successor, but Kocharyan was unable to transfer power to Oskanian, Robert Kocharyan said: “I didn’t have another candidate. At that time, the press was also circulating Oskanian’s candidacy. Yes, but it wasn’t my candidacy. I will tell you my motivation: at that time, I considered that the primary task for Armenia was a security issue. There was the Karabakh issue, there was the security issue, and I considered that a person who fully understands that domain should be elected president. And Serzh Sargsyan, who has worked for years in both the Ministry of Defense and security, and has experience in the Karabakh war [in the early 1990s], was the most correct decision from a purely rational point of view. But I never thought that such developments could occur in the future.”

To the question whether he still considers it the most correct decision, Kocharyan responded: “At that time, this was the most rational explanation, and I always make rational decisions that assume certain calculations.”

As for what he would do if he knew that years later power would be transferred to incumbent PM Nikol Pashinyan, the second president of Armenia said: “I would think, of course I would think.”