Nikol Pashinyan, perhaps, realized that it was too early to “remove” the Russian factor in the political processes of Armenia and rushed to Moscow in order to secure his power. 168 TVof Revue expressed this opinion on the air of the program Political scientist Suren Surenyants, chairman of the “Democratic Alternative” partyspeaking about the topic of the Pashinyan-Putin meeting that took place in Moscow.

“There are upcoming elections, and Nikol Pashinyan would like to insure himself against possible risks coming from Moscow, but in my opinion, there is a much more global reason, that is, the developments taking place around Iran have created a certain security vacuum in the region and, in particular, around Armenia, because in case of some of the most probable developments of the Iranian war, TRIPP loses its perspective, it becomes very vague, and the whole so-called philosophy of peace was built by Nikol Pashinyan. right on TRIPP.

Perhaps he realized that he had “written off” Russia ahead of time, and rushed to Moscow in order to correct some problems and secure his power. I consider the last version to be more credible. In other words, he realized that all his propaganda, his myths and legends about peace are on the verge of collapse, and in this case, the Russian factor can be especially important,” believes Suren Surenyants.

He is not at all surprised by the content of the conversation that took place in front of the cameras in the Kremlin yesterday and the fact that even in the public part of the negotiations, the Russian president spoke in open text about many, many issues, in particular, he hinted at his dissatisfaction with the processes taking place in Armenia, the imprisonment of Samvel Karapetyan, a Russian citizen, in relation to the complaints against the CSTO, he reminded Pashinyan’s recognition of Nagorno Karabakh as part of Azerbaijan, or, so to speak, “turned his face” on the relatively low level of Russian gas. prices, volumes of Armenian-Russian trade turnover, Armenia dependence of the economy on Russia, etc.

According to the political scientist, in the end, the time has come for Nikol Pashinyan to face the consequences of his adventure.

“We used to say that you can’t endlessly put all your eggs in one basket, in this case, the Western one, and expect that it won’t have any effect on Armenian-Russian relations. Yes, yesterday’s meeting was very open, even in the public part, and probably a surprise for many, because they spoke openly about topics that complete the current crisis in Armenian-Russian relations. Let’s talk very directly. Yes, there was a small component of “toast diplomacy” and the deep Armenian-Russian relations were emphasized on both sides, but next to that “toast diplomacy” and even more pointedly, the existing problems were discussed in a very open, very public way. What was Putin saying, and it was perhaps the most unpleasant for Pashinyan, because it revealed the bankruptcy of Pashinyan’s policy.

He described the great dependence of Armenia’s economy on Russia, particularly on trade with Russia and on energy sources. Putin rightly said that Russia sells gas to European countries for 600 dollars per 1000 cubic meters, and in the case of Armenia, the price is 177.5 dollars.

How many times have I or my other colleagues said on the air that this adventure will have a price, that is, the Russian president was very clearly implying that if, for example, Russia decides to deal with Armenia through market mechanisms instead of a friendly attitude, by the way, Overchuk said something similar today, how long will the Armenian economy last?

I am not saying if the price of gas reaches 600 dollars, can you imagine if it is even 250-300 dollars, instead of today’s 177.5, what kind of collapse will Armenia’s economy undergo? “Russia clearly makes it clear that it has the tools to influence Armenia’s policy, of course, diplomatically noting that it is Armenia’s right to make a choice,” says Surenyants.

Let’s remind that yesterday, on March 31, the talks between Nikol Pashinyan and the President of the Russian Federation took place in the Kremlin in Moscow. Vladimir Putin in his speech during the meeting referred to Armenian-Russian relations, the volume of bilateral trade turnover, which according to the data presented by Putin, amounted to 6.4 billion US dollars in 2025, and 11 billion dollars in 2024, the price of gas sold to Armenia, the incompatibility of EAEU-EU membership, the CSTO and Artsakh issue and the internal political processes in Armenia and the upcoming parliamentary elections. The head of the Kremlin hinted at the imprisonment of Russian citizen Samvel Karapetyan and expressed hope that all political parties with a pro-Russian attitude in Armenia will be able to participate in the elections. Pashinyan, for his part, answered that “there are no participants in political processes in our places of imprisonment”, and that according to the RA Constitution, only those citizens who have exclusively Armenian passports can participate in the elections.

Full interview in the video.

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