In his remarks on June 27, Armenian PM Nikol Pashinyan attempted to justify his failure to prevent the 2020 war in Nagorno-Karabakh. He argued that making disproportionate concessions to Azerbaijan might have prevented the outbreak of the conflict.

He appeared before an ad hoc parliamentary committee probing the war for the second time in slightly over a week. Opposition groups perceive these repeated testimonies as ongoing efforts by Pashinyan to avoid taking responsibility for the catastrophic war. 

During his initial testimony on June 20, Nikol Pashinyan defended his approach to the six-week hostilities. In his second appearance before the commission on June 27, he primarily addressed the events leading up to the conflict. Pashinyan specifically responded to questions from pro-government commission members, who are responsible for investigating the factors that contributed to Armenia’s defeat.

Referring to the possibility of war, Pahsinyan stated: “Since May 2018, when I assumed the PM role, I have constantly received reports, the National Security Service constantly warned about the possibility of war. It was reported to me that there is a 30 percent chance of a war starting and that this is more a psychological pressure on the political power so that we make disproportionate concessions.”

“I’m not saying that it was theoretically impossible to avoid the war, but the necessary condition for that theoretical possibility was a renunciation of, let’s put it this way, the Armenian vision for settling the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict,” he told the panel boycotted by opposition MPs.

Armenia's opposition parliamentary factions boycotted the work of the fact-finding commission, whose mandate is soon to expire. The opposition leaders argue that Nikol Pashinyan’s mishandling of peace talks mediated by the United States, Russia, and France led to the inevitability of the war with Azerbaijan. They specifically allege that Pashinyan recklessly rejected a peace deal proposed by the three co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group.

Movses Hakobyan, a former chief of the Armenian military’s General Staff, strongly denied the claims made by Pashinyan regarding his role in the 2020 Karabakh war.

Pashinyan questioned Hakobyan’s right to be at the “Karabakh Defense Army’s” (military forces of Nagorno-Karabakh Armenians) command bunker during the war, saying it was questionable. Additionally, the Armenian PM claimed that Hakobyan ordered the withdrawal of Armenian troops from the 7th defense district in early October 2020, which Pashinyan deemed unjustified.

Referring to these accusations, Hakobyan said: “I have no right to make decisions, give orders, let the Prosecutor’s Office open a criminal case, I will provide explanations then.”

Read also: Armenian PM Discloses Details of 2020 Ceasefire Talks