ArmInfo. Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan commented to the Italian La Repubblica newspaper on the remarks made in his message on the occasion of the 33rd anniversary of the adoption of the Declaration of Independence of Armenia "... As long as we do not have peace, the ghost of the USSR will haunt our skies, the skies of our region." < Does it mean that what you are doing now, trying to reach peace is also a way to become more independent from Moscow?>, the correspondent asked.
Pashinyan, in particular, said:
"What does it mean to be independent? Being independent means that you are less dependent for example in the security sphere, or it means security policies should be diversified. I will illustrate with a very specific example, which maybe in this context is not referred to, but we all, also the citizens of Armenia. I assume are aware of it, everyone knows, but when it is spoken, it assumes another value. Armenia's security architecture 99,999% was linked to Russia, including in the logic of procurement of arms and ammunition, but today we see that Russia itself is in need of weapons, arms and ammunition and in this situation it's understandable that even if it wishes so, the Russian Federation cannot meet Armenia's security needs. This example should demonstrate to us that dependance of linkage in security matters from just one partner is just a strategic mistake. And after tasting the bitter fruits of this error post-factum, we are taking feeble attempts to diversify our security policy, including casting a different glance on own region, because it's one thing when we in our region live under continuous confrontational logic with our neighbors, but say ok, someone will care for our security. But when in practice it comes to this someone to take care of our security, it turns out that this someone either does not want to or cannot ensure our security. These are realities which we have to confront with. Yes, we confront very difficult realities both psychologically, ideologically, historically and in terms of worldview. If you do not pass through these realities in the right way, it will mean losing independence. This is what I had in mind in the message I you mentioned. I have pondered long about if this should be spoken about publicly or not. But I have not seen the positive effect of not speaking about it publicly. It's just the opposite, I see that talking about it is very painful, but without talking about this, we could really lose our independence. Of course, noy only speaking, because it won't work out only by speaking, but it is also necessary to speak. Let me tell you one thing: I think reflection is an important pastime, important instrument and formula, that we need to continually look inside, into ourselves. If the questions raised get the same answers we had before those questions were raised, then it's ok, we did everything right and we are doing everything right. But if it were to turn out that the old question in this new situation has a new answer, this is a situation we have to face."
To the remark of La Repubblica that it is very important to understand for what political reasons Russia transferred control over the Lachin corridor to Azerbaijan, why Russian peacekeepers do not fulfill their duties and give Baku the opportunity to de facto control this territory without interfering in the situation, Pashinyan noted: "Of course, we talk about these issues with our Russian partners. But irrespective of these discussions, we of course have our own hypothesis. When we talk about this hypothesis, also several events that took place in Russia push us to draw historical parallels. Our region has already witnessed such a situation. In fact, for quite a long time the Russian Federation is present in our region, the South Caucasus. But we have observed situations when overnight, within a month or within a year the Russian Federation just got up and left South Caucasus. Our Russian colleagues talk a lot about that Armenia's western partners, western countries work with Armenia or push the government of Armenia in order the Armenian government takes measures, pursuing the objective to push out Russia from this region. But when we talk with our Russian partners, sometimes we express our opinion and our assessment that it's the opposite, we see that Russia by virtue of a number of steps it takes or fails to take, itself leaves the region. As for the reasons, we are unaware. We can of course make interpretations, but I cannot make any statement. I can propose hypothesis, but I will refrain from that now. It's understandable that the issue you refer to is a matter of great concern and interest for us and there is nothing new here. But there are processes which of course lead us to believe that all this scenarios may repeat, we just can wake up one day and see that Russia is not here. I have to agree with your formulation that the Lachin Corridor that should have been under the control of the Russian peacekeepers is not under the control of the Russian peacekeepers. There may be two reasons, either the Russian Federation cannot maintain control over the Lachin Corridor, or it just doesn't want to. Both are problematic from our perspective."
To a clarifying question from a correspondent, "What do you think, is it because they don't want or because they cannot?"Pashinyan said:" I believe sometimes they cannot, sometimes they do not want." And the reasons for this, according to Nikol Pashinyan, are very different. However, he did not talk about them, indicating that "an attentive analyst will see these connections." "Of course, I have my own versions, my own perception, my own hypothesis, and I have publicly expressed part of them. Of course, in those public statements the causative relationships may not have been very visible, but a careful observer will see those causative links. Let's see what makes this situation dangerous for Armenia. We have not been able to make use of its toolkit. Armenia is a member of the CSTO, Armenia is a member of the Eurasian Economic Union, Armenia has a strategic partnership treaty with the Russian Federation, and all these leads all western countries or experts to qualify Armenia as a pro-Russian country. On the other hand, many circles in Russia consider Armenia or its government, and since the government was formed by the vote of the majority of the people, pro-Western. And here the biggest problem of our current position is as follows: if being pro-Russian could have some potential benefits, or if being pro-Western could have some advantages, Armenia does not take advantage of the benefits of being pro-Russian, because in Russia they do not consider Armenia enough pro-Russian, for example for the reason that Armenia in their opinion does not provide enough assistance to them in the Ukrainian issue. On the other hand, Armenia cannot take advantage of the potential benefits of being pro-Western, because in the West they consider Armenia not to be sufficiently pro-Western, because for example, from their perspective, Armenia does not sufficiently oppose Russia in the Ukrainian issue. This is exactly the hazard of our situation," he added.