Political scientist: West cannot be alternative to Russia

ArmInfo.The break in Armenian-Russian relations could put Armenia in a very difficult situation. A member of the  "Voice of the People" expert club, political scientist  Arman Ghukasyan expressed a similar opinion at the meeting with journalists.

According to him, we all have before us the examples of Ukraine and  Moldova, and it is not for nothing that Mikheil Saakashvili has been  particularly active lately, giving advice to Pashinyan.  "Unfortunatly, I have to say that in the direction in which the  situation is developing, in the near future we will witness even more  pronounced overt anti-Russian steps and actions," he said.

According to the political scientist, the anti-Russian policy of the  Armenian leadership is not so much a conceptual change of paradigm,  but rather an opportunity for the ruling team to maintain its power,  because if previously it retained it thanks to accusations against  the "former authorities", now, 5 years later, after a series of  fateful failures, it became necessary to change the "accused".

According to the political scientist, the meeting in Granada was a  defeat for Pashinyan, and his subsequent refusal to visit Bishkek,  where he could meet with Vladimir Putin, only confirmed this defeat.  It is clear that Aliyev received what he wanted from the West and  confidently came to the Russian President, while Pashinyan continues  to lose in the diplomatic field.

According to Ghukasyan, the basis of all this was laid by Prague,  where Pashinyan recognized Artsakh as part of Azerbaijan. This was  followed by a nine-month blockade, then we saw the prime minister's  speech in Strasbourg, where Pashinyan once again tried to blame  Russia for his failures. He then gave a famous interview to the Wall  Street Journal, in which he once again complained about Russian  peacekeepers and spoke about the future of Russian military bases in  Armenia. After discrediting Russian peacekeepers and the loss of  Artsakh, Pashinyan's team now aims to discredit the 102nd military  base deployed in Gyumri with a view to withdrawing it in the future.

After all, what guarantees have we received from the West? Arman  Ghukasyan asks. Military-technical assistance from France, which,  according to the political scientist, is rather decorative in nature?   The speaker noted that along with anti-Russianism, the thesis that  we, Armenia, is moving towards the West is being actively circulated,  but in fact we should say that we are moving towards the unknown,  which will put our country in front of new challenges, risks and  dangers.

At the same time, according to Ghukasyan, let's not forget that  Russia is also important for Armenia economically. "Let's not forget  about the presence of a large amount of Russian capital in Armenia  and about the new jobs, about millions of transfers from Russia that  support marostability, about supplies of inexpensive gas,  investments, etc. The economic rails of our country lead to the  market of Russia and the EAEU countries; in addition, RA receives  $300 million annually from the common energy market of the EAEU only  because it is a member of the Eurasian Economic Union. So listing all  this indicates that the West cannot be an alternative to Russia,"  Ghukasyan concluded.