Claims of Armenia shifting its foreign policy 'unfounded': Pashinyan

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
17 Sep 2023 15:35

Armenia's head of state cleared up allegations regarding the country's foreign policy.

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan speaks at a news conference in Yerevan, Armenia, Jan. 10, 2023. (AP)

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan rejected assertions on Sunday that the country's foreign policy direction had shifted, deeming such claims as unfounded, and emphasizing that Armenia's foreign policy has consistently prioritized the nation's own interests.

"The foreign policy is transparent, and I don't think that such formulations [about changing the vector] are appropriate. Armenia cannot change its foreign policy vector in the sense that Armenia's foreign policy is always oriented towards Armenia's state interests," Pashinyan told reporters.

Discussing the Armenia-Russia relationship, Pashinyan referred to the statements made by Russian President Vladimir Putin.

"The leader, the Russian president, said there were no problems with Armenia and the prime minister," Pashinyan said.

During his address at the Eastern Economic Forum this week, Putin mentioned his ongoing communication with the Armenian Prime Minister and emphasized that Russia "maintains a trouble-free relationship with Armenia and Prime Minister Pashinyan."

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said in an interview earlier this month that Moscow failed to carry out its mission under the November 2020 tripartite truce agreement, adding that he believes Russia is exiting the region.

On Thursday, the Acting Assistant Secretary at the State Department Yuri Kim said that the US is actively working to "rebalance" the nations in the Caucasus region and steer them away from Russia and that Moscow failed to fulfill its obligations to maintain peace in Nagorno-Karabakh through its peacekeeping mission deployed in 2020 after an Armenian-Azeri war.

Responding to his statement, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov stressed that Russia remains an absolutely integral part of the region and "cannot go away somewhere," adding that Russia "cannot abandon Armenia."

"Russia continues to play a consistent and critical role in stabilizing and deconflicting the situation in this region. And we will continue to play this role," Peskov said.

In an interview with Politico published on Wednesday, Pashinyan officially acknowledged that his country recognizes the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region as part of Azerbaijan's sovereign territory.

Russian President Vladimir Putin expressed limitations earlier this week on Russia's involvement in Nagorno-Karabakh following Yerevan's public recognition of Azerbaijan's claim to the Armenian-majority region.