On April 25, the Prime Minister of Armenia, Nikol Pashinyan, gave an exclusive interview to the Russian newspaper “Nezavisimaya Gazeta”. Among the addressed questions were the Armenian-Russian strategic alliance and international political developments, as well as the agenda of the US-Armenia relations.

“No changes have occurred in our relations with Russia. If any changes have taken place at all, they are only positive”, Pashinyan said. “Our positions in the working dialogues and the negotiations is not different from the ones reflected in the public speeches, which is a good opportunity indeed to raise the relations to a new level. Russia is our strategic partner and ally. Yet, it is important to also consider the fact that we have our own domestic political agenda, which is not always compatible with those of either Russia or Belarus or even Kazakhstan or France”, he said, highlighting certain “sensitive moments” such as the intensified partnership with the EU.

Confronted with the question why the government of Armenia made the decision (strongly criticized by the US government) to send a humanitarian mission to Syria, Pashinyan responded: “There is also the contrary scenario. No government of Armenia has criticized the US the way I do. What matters for us is the preservation of our independence and sovereignty. We certainly cannot exist without regional and international engagement. We are always open to debates”.

One of the questions that Pashinyan has been asked was in regards to the remand of Robert Kocharyan and the negative impact it might have on the Russian-Armenian relations. In Pashinyan’s point of view such concerns are the result of a misunderstanding of Russian-Armenian relations amongst Russian analysts. “I have stated several times that Russians have often viewed political figures without public support as friends and that has caused discontent. I would like to say the following: Russia’s friend in Armenia is the Armenian people, not the Prime Minister or certain politicians. This should be taken into account, and Russia should not give any preference to certain individuals and act against the Armenian people. There cannot be any government in Armenia that executes its people, and this refers to not only the past, but also to the future”, he stated.

The relations between Armenia and Georgia had also been touched upon as a topic during the interview. According to the Prime Minister, the relations between the two countries are stable, regardless of the territorial conflicts, which these two countries face. “There are conflicts in both countries and it is possible that the conflicts are impacting the Armenian-Georgian relations. But it is wrong to put different conflicts in the same category. No conflict is like the other, there are no common forms, there are no general formulas for their resolution - neither in Abkhazia and in South Ossetia, nor in Nagorno-Karabakh. And I think the relations with Georgia are excellent. This does not mean that there are no rough spots, but we have a constructive dialogue with the Georgian Prime Minister, we have genuinely friendly relations”, he said.

This is not the first time Pashinyan mentioned the Russian-Armenian relations. Talking on the RBC TV channel, Pashinyan also talked about Russia. The topic of the interview was media freedoms in Armenia, and the Prime Minister was confronted with the controversial question of restricting certain Russian TV channels. “Sometimes I notice that there are such discussions on the Internet, where Russian TV channels had an anti-Armenian policy. And if they are pursuing an anti-Armenian policy, something needs to be done in regards to this situation”, he told RBC. However, according to him, there will be no restrictions on Russian TV-networks.  

Another example is the Interview he had with CivilNet, where it was pointed out that a certain mistrust towards Armenia exists within Russian political elites since the Velvet Revolution given the fact that Pashinyan’s supporters came mainly from the public sector which had close ties with international (non-Russian) organizations. “…I want to speak very clearly on this. Yes, the way the elite of Russia perceives everything that has happened in Armenia is a problem: It was a people’s revolution, and people came to power through this revolution. And who are these people? They are those people who in the past have been the political opposition and political activists. In many cases, these people had to settle in the public sector… and this public sector was funded by international organizations, often times by international organizations that are not well perceived in Russia and the post-Soviet world”, he responded. According to Pashinyan, this is why mistrust towards some Armenian officials is so prevalent in Russia, but he is convinced that “this mistrust will be overcome over time.”