At his press conference Monday, second President of Armenia Robert Kocharyan analyzed the reasons for the loss of Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) and Armenian-Russian relations in that context. The second president pointed out three crucial mistakes of the Armenian leadership (PHOTOS).

"What happened to Artsakh. I myself did not speak about this, but there is a statement from the [opposition] ‘Armenia’ faction [in parliament]. It was adopted with my participation. But it would be important to hear from me what happened to Artsakh and why. The handover of Nagorno-Karabakh [to Azerbaijan] took place in two phases: in 2018-20, before the war, and after the war, until September 2023," Kocharyan noted.

The second president of Armenia recalled the actions of incumbent Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan. According to Kocharyan, in 2019 Pashinyan ignored the mediators’ interesting and acceptable proposal, essentially saying that he was starting the negotiations from scratch.

“In essence, the negotiation process was brought to a deadlock. Then he said that ‘Artsakh is Armenia and period!’ And if so, then what are we negotiating about? In essence, it was a call for war, and the situation inevitably led to war,” Kocharyan noted, in particular, adding that Pashinyan showed with his entire behavior that he was doing what he wanted.

According to him, the reason for what happened is arrogance, the inability to calculate at least 2-3 steps ahead, and adventurism. There is no other reason. And if there is, then it comes from the domain of conspiracy theory, Kocharyan added.

According to him, the second blunder occurred in Prague, when the well-known statement was adopted, by which Armenia recognized Nagorno-Karabakh as part of Azerbaijan. That was the verdict on Artsakh, Robert Kocharyan is convinced. The former president of Armenia noted that this was the phase when Russia was losing its positions in Ukraine, and Yerevan decided that it was right to jump on the “last wagon.”

“But this decision, in my opinion, nullified Russia’s mediation mandate. The Russian Federation was a mediator in the November 9 [2022 trilateral] statement on the Nagorno-Karabakh issue. When Nagorno-Karabakh is declared part of Azerbaijan, the Russian mission is nullified. What was Pashinyan thinking? ‘Russia has taken on the obligation for the security of Karabakh, here is Russia, here is Azerbaijan, go do it!’

But international relations do not work like that. He thought he could wash his hands of it and enter the geopolitical game. If anyone thinks that the Russian Federation can be ignored like this, then he is very mistaken. Many in our country are offended that the Russian Federation has not fulfilled its obligations. Let's try to look at this through the eyes of Russia. You see something different from Russia, that you can stop it only by forceful intervention, otherwise it would be impossible. But for whom? Armenia, which ‘deceived’ you, to put it bluntly, and went over to the enemy’s side. Have any of you acted like this? I don’t think so. People take steps based on their own opinions,” said the second president of Armenia.