News
Show news feed

YEREVAN. – Armenia lives in a “no war, no peace” situation, but this is a potential war that can break out at any time, Armenia’s ex-president Robert Kocharyan said in an interview with Kommersant newspaper.

Asked whether the new authorities are pro-Western, Kocharyan answered: “The question is not that they are pro-Western. I would not even talk about pro-Western or pro-Russian orientation. We need to talk about reality. Is it possible to talk about our security in different coordinates? Is it realistic? Let’s call all of us pro-Armenian politicians. But, being pro-Armenian, we can be deeply mistaken in the choice of priorities. Therefore, I would refrain from the cliché ‘pro-Russian’ or ‘pro-Western’. It's about how we perceive the coordinates in which we are. Do we perceive it correctly? There were absolutely unacceptable move, and now they are trying to fix this. How sincere it is, time will show.”

As to PM Pashinyan’s visit to Moscow where he told that Armenia has wonderful relationship with Russia and Moscow is a strategic partner, the former president noted that in this way Pashinyan is trying to correct the impression that he left from his first moves and from all his previous activities.

He expressed concern over the contradictory nature of Pashinyan's statements, adding that this speaks about inconsistency.

Asked if he can name any signs of attempts of a geopolitical turn of the new authorities, Kocharyan said he does not understand the participation of the Armenian side at the level of the first person at the NATO summit in Brussels.

As to the remark that Putin and Medvedev also participated in NATO summits, Kocharyan said “this was different time”.

“I also participated in the NATO summit, but then there were more joint programs between Russia and NATO than between NATO and Armenia. There was no such confrontation, and there was a vector of interaction between the alliance and Russia. In a situation where even contacts are broken, such a participation is a certain message. I do no know whether this was done because of misunderstanding or deliberately. But, it raises questions”.

Talking about whether there are things for which he and Nikol Pashinyan have the same point of view, Kocharyan noted that “in many aspects he does not know his position at all.”

Speaking about the Karabakh conflict, he recalled that he had been holding talks for a long period of time, including during his presidency in Karabakh.

“Any negotiation is better than any war. It is necessary to pursue a responsible policy, in which there will be little shooting on the line of contact and when you basically will not surrender your positions. It is a question of fine diplomatic professional work. This is not a topic that should be made the subject of discussions at the rally. Any carelessness will necessarily backfire by the intensity of shooting on the line of contact with the threat to the life of those who are in the trenches today. You just have to give it up. Especially to people who did not serve in the army and who were not at the forefront and who evaded military service. Today there are almost no people in the government who served in the army.”

!
This text available in   Հայերեն and Русский
Print
Read more:
All
Photos