AZE.US
Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said Armenia does not need external guarantors to secure peace with Azerbaijan, sharply questioning the value of security arrangements that Yerevan had relied on for years.
Pashinyan made the remarks Saturday while responding to calls from political opponents who argue that Armenia should seek outside guarantees for its security.
He said the experience of the past several years had shown the limits of that approach.
“One of those security guarantors, in fact, made a very open and transparent statement while on an official visit to Baku – I am referring to the president of Belarus – saying that he participated in the preparatory work for the 44-day war,” Pashinyan said, according to Armenpress.
“That person was one of our security guarantors, a member of the CSTO,” he added, referring to the Collective Security Treaty Organization.
Pashinyan said Armenia could not continue “stepping on the same rake every time.” He argued that the country must break out of a pattern in which outside forces use Armenia against others and then leave it to deal with the consequences.
The comments point to a deeper political shift in Yerevan. For decades, Armenian security policy was built around reliance on external players, particularly Russia and the CSTO framework. After the 2020 war and the subsequent loss of Armenian control in Karabakh, that model has come under growing criticism inside Armenia.
Relations between Azerbaijan and Armenia have been tense since the early 1990s, when Armenian forces occupied Karabakh and seven surrounding districts of Azerbaijan. Azerbaijan restored control over much of the territory during the 44-day war in 2020. In September 2023, Baku established full sovereignty over Karabakh after separatist forces surrendered.
Pashinyan’s latest remarks suggest that his government is preparing the Armenian public for a different formula: direct peace with Azerbaijan, without waiting for outside powers to provide guarantees that may not hold in a crisis.
AZE.US