Russia Threatens That Armenia Could Become ‘Next Ukraine’

Putinists did not like Pashinyan’s speech in the European Parliament.

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s speech in the European Parliament on October 17 suggests that he is “following the path” of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, a high-ranking source in Moscow told TASS.

He described Pashinyan’s statements as “irresponsible and provocative, especially as they relate to Russia and Russian-Armenian relations.” “We see how they are trying to turn Armenia into Ukraine #3, if we consider Moldova as Ukraine #2,” the agency’s interlocutor noted.

Speaking at the European Parliament, Pashinyan emphasized that more than 100 thousand Armenians left Nagorno-Karabakh “in the conditions of inaction of Russian peacekeepers.” He also accused “security allies” of taking advantage of the moment and “not only not helping,” but also publicly calling for the overthrow of the government in Armenia.

Pashinyan pointed out that such situations “have been repeated several times since 2020” and occurred according to one scenario: “external aggression, inaction of Armenia’s allies in the security sphere, attempts to undermine the country’s sovereignty using hybrid technologies directed by external forces.”

Since the autumn of 2022, the Armenian authorities have regularly accused Russia and the CSTO — a pro-Kremlin military bloc created from loyal republics of the former USSR — of inaction and lack of response to requests for help.

Relations between Yerevan and Moscow deteriorated further after Azerbaijan’s military operation in September 2023, which ended with the capitulation of Nagorno-Karabakh and the exodus of 100 thousand Armenians from the region. Then Pashinyan accused Russia of an attack on the country’s independence, and also spoke about the ineffectiveness of the CSTO and “serious questions” for Russian peacekeepers, who did not in any way interfere with the actions of Baku, despite the fact that preventing military conflicts is their direct responsibility. At the same time, Pashinyan emphasized that “Armenia has never betrayed its allies.”

In response to the reproaches, the Kremlin stated that Azerbaijan de jure conducted the operation on its territory. Foreign Ministry representative Maria Zakharova recalled the latest actions of the Armenian leadership, which allegedly “created fertile ground for the hostile policy of the West” towards Russia.

Prior to this, the diplomatic department made a “hard representation” to the Ambassador of the Republic Vagharshak Harutyunyan in connection with Yerevan’s series of “unfriendly steps.” The Foreign Ministry considered as such the launch of the process of ratification of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, military exercises with the United States, as well as a trip to Kyiv by Pashinyan’s wife Anna Hakobyan with humanitarian aid for Ukrainians.

In early October, the Armenian parliament ratified the Rome Statute. Thus, the republic has joined 123 countries of the world that will be obliged to arrest Vladimir Putin under an ICC warrant if he arrives on their territory.