On 7 August, Armenia’s former President and leader of the Republican party of Armenia (HHK) Serzh Sargsyan released a series of video messages on social media where he spoke on various issues regarding Armenia. 

He stated that the failed attempts to combat the coronavirus and the government’s choice to continue extending the state of emergency prevented him from fulfilling his promise to speak at a press conference, and thus decided to appeal to the public in a video message format. Sargsyan went on saying it was clear to him that “there can be no return to the past“ in regard to the events that stripped him from his power, but added that the history of the newly independent Republic of Armenia cannot start from April 2018. “We have many things to do. Without losing hope, we need to consolidate all resources of our state, all capable forces and individuals and to move forward,” he said. 

Sargsyan then spoke on the topic of the „four-day“ war from April  2016. "Without a doubt it was Armenia’s victory. A victory over a superior number of enemy who suddenly attacked and used almost all of their arsenal of weapons,“ he stated.  According to Sargsyan Azerbaijan's goal in the war was not to seize several hectares of land. “Let's talk about those 800 hectares. It turned out that with more accurate measurements, they  are 400 hectares, not 800. After the war, I said that Azerbaijanis succeeded in only seizing 800 hectares of land of the security belt which is  800 thousand hectares,” he went on. Sargsyan also explained why he did not give order to win back the lost hectares. “During the war, I did not insist that our army return the territory of such an area, because I gave priority to the lives of our soldiers. I was decisive in my decision,” he said. 

The country's former president further emphasized that the April War “was in no way beneficial to Azerbaijan. “Do you remember Aliyev’s statement, when he said that ‘behind closed doors I am forced to recognize the independence of Nagorno-Karabakh’? Of course, this statement speaks to our diplomatic successes,“ he said. Among the diplomatic successes, Sargsyan named the statements made in Vienna and St. Petersburg where the OSCE Minsk Group issued a statement that the tripartite [Armenia, Azerbaijan, Nagorno-Karabakh] ceasefire agreement of 1994 remains in force.

The spokesperson of the Azerbaijani Ministry of Defence Vagif Dargahli replied to Sargsyan’s statements. “The question [is]: if, as he claims, they won these battles, then why, shortly after those events, his close friend and colleague, the then Minister of Defense Seyran Ohanyan and the entire top leadership of the armed forces of Armenia were dismissed?!” he said, adding that the Inquiry Commission of the Armenian Parliament, investigating the results of the battles, announced that only in manpower, Armenia had lost 560 soldiers. “Sargsyan is trying, in every possible way, to find an excuse for the defeat suffered by the Armenian armed forces in the April battles, and he is not ashamed to talk about some 'victory' at the time when the advanced units of the Azerbaijani Army, using only a small part of the available weapons and military equipment, liberated 2,000 hectares of their land in a short time,” Dargahli further emphasized.

Sargsyan returned to Armenian political life after an 1,5 year sabbatical by meeting with the US ambassador to Armenia (Caucasus Watch reported). He also made public statements against the current Armenian government at the European People's Party (EPP) congress in Croatia (Caucasus Watch reported). He also conducted a  working visit to Brussels where he held meetings with European politicians, during his court proceedings over an alleged embezzlement of Armenia’s public funds (Caucasus Watch reported).