The speaker of Russia’s lower house of parliament predicted a further deterioration of Russian-Armenian relations on Tuesday as he denounced Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian for hosting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Yerevan last week.
Zelenskyy visited the Armenian capital on May 4 to attend a European Political Community summit along with dozens of European Union leaders. In his speech at the summit, he implicitly threated to disrupt Russia’s May 9 Victory Day parade in Moscow with drone strikes.
The Kremlin and the Russian Foreign Ministry decried Zelenskyy’s “terrorist” threats and Pashinian’s failure to respond to them. The Armenian premier rejected the criticism on Monday.
“It is absolutely obvious that this action on the part of Nikol Vovaevich cannot be called a friendly step towards our country, Russian citizens and the Armenian people,” State Duma speaker Vyacheslav Volodin said in a social media post, questioning Pashinian’s “morality and decency.”
“Today, a question became obvious to everyone: how will [Russian-Armenian] relations develop after Pashinian’s actions?” Volodin went on. “Will our states be closer or farther apart? Will there be less tension in the relations or more? The second [scenario] is most likely … That’s how it all started in Ukraine.”
Russian President Vladimir Putin likewise noted at the weekend that Russia’s conflict with Ukraine broke out after Kyiv’s decision to strive for membership of the EU. Putin said Yerevan should choose “as soon as possible” between seeking to join the EU or remaining part of the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU), a Russian-led trade bloc.
Pashinian effectively dismissed that demand as well. Citing the ongoing parliamentary election campaign in Armenia, he also announced that he will not an EEU summit in Kazakhstan slated for May 28-29.
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Pashinian Vows To Jail Opposition Challenger’s Son
- Narine Ghalechian
Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian on Tuesday insulted and pledged to imprison the fugitive son of Gagik Tsarukian, a wealthy businessman leading one of the three main opposition groups challenging him in next month’s parliamentary elections.
Joined by their loyalists, both men campaigned in Yerevan’s southern Shengavit district, urging local residents to vote for their respective parties on June 7.
“Gagik Tsarukian, you’ve started talking more boldly, we’re going to catch your bastard,” Pashinian shouted through loudspeakers.
“We will catch you, we will put you in prison, you will not escape anywhere, not even your father will save you,” he said, referring to Tsarukian’s son Nver.
The latter fled Armenia in late 2024 following a shooting incident at a casino involving himself and his bodyguards. One of the men reportedly fired gunshots that did not injure anyone. Nver Tsarukian left for Belarus before being charged with “hooliganism.” He denied the accusation through his lawyer but has still not returned to the country.
Armenian prosecutors demanded his extradition from Belarus more than a year ago. Law-enforcement authorities there claim to have not managed to track down Tsarukian Jr. The young man’s father has long had a warm rapport with Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko.
Gagik Tsarukian gave a reserved answer to Pashinian as he marched through Shengavit together with his supporters.
“All over the world, there is a rule that in politics you must never talk about [a rival’s] family, children, parents, mothers,” he told journalists. “If they have a problem, let them talk about me. I will never downgrade my class.”
But one of Tsarukian’s top allies, Andranik Tevanian, did not mince his words to attack Pashinian, who has been accused of ordering politically motivated arrests throughout his eight-year rule.
“Today Nikol Pashinian has again opened his filthy mouth and wildly barked at Tsarukian,” Tevanian told the crowd. “He has nothing to say. His only message in his campaign is to please [Azerbaijani President Ilham] Aliyev and lick Aliyev’s shoes.”
“We don’t need a leader who grovels before our enemies but insults Armenia’s citizens,” said Tevanian. “We must send to hell this regime guided by the Turkish-Azerbaijani agenda.”
Tsarukian’s Prosperous Armenia Party (BHK) as well as two opposition alliances led by billionaire Samvel Karapetian and former President Robert Kocharian are widely regarded as the ruling Civil Contract party’s main election challengers. Pashinian has repeatedly declared that they must not win any parliament seats.
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RFE/RL – Armenian Government Still Vague On Final Break With Russia
- Shoghik Galstian
Armenia’s leadership remained reluctant on Tuesday to give possible dates for its exit from a Russian-led trade bloc that are increasingly demanded by Moscow.
Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan said vaguely that Yerevan will choose “at some point” between continued membership in the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU) and a formal bid to join the European Union.
“We don’t know what that choice will be,” Mirzoyan told reporters in Yerevan as he campaigned with Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian and other senior members of the ruling Civil Contract party for the June 7 parliamentary elections. “Obviously, there will be no simultaneous membership of the EEU and the EU. There is no such question today.”
Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian’s government enacted a year ago a law that commits it to striving for Armenia’s accession to the EU. But it has still not made a formal membership bid. Nor has any EU member state voiced support for such a prospect.
Meanwhile, Moscow has repeatedly warned that Armenia risks losing its tariff-access to Russia’s market and discount on Russian natural gas vital for its economy. Russian President Vladimir Putin said at the weekend that Yerevan should choose between the two blocs “as soon as possible.”
A senior Russian Foreign Ministry official, Mikhail Kalugin, echoed Putin’s statement on Tuesday. He said the Armenian leadership cannot continue to “view EEU membership as a temporary measure for the duration of the search for or the process of joining an alternative alliance.”
“Simply put, it’s impossible to sit on two chairs [simultaneously,” Kalugin told the official TASS news agency in an interview published on the ministry’s website.
“Armenia is not sitting now, now Armenia is standing, developing and moving forward,” countered Mirzoyan. “If you want an allegory so much, then it’s not two chairs, it’s 22 chairs.”
According to Armenian government data, Russia accounted for 35.8 percent of Armenian foreign trade last year, compared with the EU’s 11.7 percent share. It is the South Caucasus country’s principal export market. Also, the Russian gas price for the country was set well below international market-based levels even before their recent surge caused by the war in the Middle East.
Pashinian’s political opponents have for years said that his foreign policy is reckless in the absence of viable economic or security alternatives offered by the EU. Some of them claim that Armenia will face crippling Russian sanctions if Pashinian wins the upcoming elections.
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“If the leader of the country renounces his holy land, what other leader? our lands
May 12, 2026
After the official start of the pre-election campaign for the upcoming parliamentary elections on June 7, Nikol Pashinyan left for Syunik marz with his teammates. In the border village of Kornidzor, Nikol Pashinyan again referred to the subject of Artsakh, saying that he really wants to talk about Kornidzor-peace relations.
“We made a very difficult decision and the essence of that decision was that we, as a state and people, stop the Karabakh movement, because the analysis of the previous period showed us that the factors related to the Karabakh movement of the previous period were used to stop the progress of our country.
We are accused of losing territories, I want to say clearly that we have not lost territories, because those territories, which in reality we believed that they belong to us, those territories not only did not belong to us, but were also used to weaken our right to the territories that actually belong to us. Our state has been trapped since its creation,” said Nikol Pashinyan.
Former head of Aravus, head of the “Aprelu Yerkir” faction of the Tegh community council, from Argam Hovsepyan We wondered how Nikol Pashinyan’s statement was received in Syunik, did the residents raise the issue of the occupied territories of Syunik?
“When the leader of your country stands up and says, “Karabakh was never ours,” and the crowd applauds, I don’t consider those applauding to be from Syun. If the head of the country renounces his land, that is the holy land, what kind of leader is he? I cannot accept such a person as the head of the country.” 168.amArgam Hovsepyan said in a conversation with
He also stressed that, of course, Syunik citizens raised the issue of the occupied territories of Syunik, a normal Syunik citizen cannot but be concerned about this issue.
“Of course, they raised all the problems, it’s not that his supporters come to talk, but the real Syuntsi is concerned, but they don’t allow him to come, it doesn’t mean that they don’t talk about the problems, but the answers, as always, were disappointing,” emphasized Argam Hovsepyan.
As for Nikol Pashinyan’s other statement that “Syunik is a region of peace, there should not be a note of melancholy next to the name of Syunik”, our interlocutor remarked: who has seen such peace?
“Our compatriots are in prisons in Baku, they were illegally convicted, part of our sovereign territories are under the occupation of the enemy, what kind of peace are they talking about now, what is that peace?” If this is peace, then I don’t understand anything. My Armenian, compatriot, brother is illegally sentenced to life in prison in Baku, I don’t want such peace. Or does he want to establish peace at the expense of our lands?
As a citizen of this country, I am very disappointed by all this, I expect that our Syunik will take an active part in the upcoming elections, so that things will change in that country,” stressed Argam Hovsepyan.
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“I will treat him as his beloved oligarch treated him.” Roo
May 12, 2026
aravot.am-writes: “Go, ask that citizen what would have happened to him if he had not shouted “traitor” or sexual insults to the Mayor of the Center Gagik Beglaryan or the head of the Football Federation Ruben Hayrapetyan, but had simply looked at the citizen,” RA NA Speaker Alen Simonyan was irritated by the question of “24 News” about spitting on the citizen.
Referring to these statements at the request of “Aravot”, Ruben Hayrapetyan said:
“I’ve already said it once and I’ll confirm it again: Alen Simonyan probably thinks that I’ll hug him from behind, but I’m not the type of person who hugs him from behind. I like to hug women. God willing, we will meet one day, and I will behave as his beloved oligarch behaved with him.”
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Selective accountability. What will we not know on May 28?
May 12, 2026
On the first Republic Day of Armenia, May 28, Nikol Pashinyan will direct the attention of the citizens of Armenia to Republic Square. a weapons show-report will be organized.
On May 11, in a briefing with journalists within the framework of the campaign, he stated that all citizens should be in the Republic Square on May 28 and see with their own eyes the weapons purchased in recent years and record the army of new logic created by their government. We have written more than once about what this implies in terms of content, so we will not touch on it this time.
Of course, any acquisition of armaments that can contribute to the increase of the combat capability of the army is gratifying, but another question is whether any purchase is the result of complex calculations. In other words, are the assessments made from the point of view of the capabilities to face the expected threats and challenges in the long term, or from the exclusion of war?
The other day, during one of the pre-election meetings, RA Defense Minister Suren Papikyan spoke to journalists about the issue of considering the non-classical military parade to be held on May 28 as a mere pre-election event.
“But if it’s all about the work we do, and if it helps any pre-election process, should we give up the work we do?” Of course, we will not refuse. We will show the extent to which we have done work in recent years, because it is a report. We will show all the weapons and military equipment that we have never shown before. The funds acquired during the administration of Prime Minister Pashinyan, which we did not have the opportunity to show to the public. But the main, significant volume refers to the years 2022-2025,” said the head of the defense department.
Does this mean that weapons purchased before 2022 will also be on display on May 28, or will Russian weapons be on display in addition to Indian and French weapons? TOR-M2KM systems, the structure headed by Papikyan did not consider the information requested by us subject to publication. But it is not excluded that the same information, for example, will be known through Nikol Pashinyan on the day of the military parade, let’s say, the relevant footage or information from the rehearsals will be published according to political expediency. Suffering has experience.
Yesterday, Nikol Pashinyan published a short episode of the weapons magazine experiment, where the Armenian-made “DEV-3” reconnaissance strike aircraft are presented, and Suren Papikyan published the footage of the French-made CAESAR self-propelled artillery systems from the military parade.
It should be noted that at the moment, Suren Papikyan and the Ministry of Defense of the Republic of Armenia have no intention of ensuring the participation of journalists in the rehearsals of the military parade. Moreover, before the start of the official campaign, a closed meeting was not organized with the Minister of Defense, when there are many professional questions that should be asked to Suren Papikyan, including those related to the purchase of weapons and the military parade.
Therefore, it is natural that only political and internal political conversations are circulating about military issues, and the main author of this is the authorities, Nikol Pashinyan. It is possible that they do not need narrow professional observations during the pre-election period, but only the evaluations of close experts and the admiring expressions of ordinary citizens far from military affairs.
Moreover, there are also good purchases in the armaments to be shown, but it does not change anything in the work of the defense department with the media.
And taking into account that the hero of the May 28 event will not be the army or even the defense minister, but the person of Nikol Pashinyan, is it possible that Pashinyan will decide this? How right or wrong we are in this matter will become clear on May 28, from the level of ensuring the presence of journalists accredited by the Ministry of Defense at the military parade.
For the sake of justice, we can still mention that a closed exhibition of locally produced and acquired weapons samples was properly organized for the media months ago by order of Suren Papikyan, but there was a ban on writing about what was seen.
Later, however, within the framework of the visit of the chief of defense staff of the Indian armed forces to Armenia, Suren Papikyan decided to publicize the samples of weapons produced by Armenia and India.
Specifically, General Anil Chauhan were presented Samples of Indian weapons acquired by Armenia, including the Akash-1S anti-aircraft missile system, the Pinaka rocket launcher, the MArG 155-BR/39 155mm/39 self-propelled howitzer on a 4×4 vehicle chassis, as well as Trajan 155mm towed howitzers manufactured by the Indian L
By the way, immediately after this, the Israeli magazine Globes «Armenia unveils suicide drone resembling IAI’s Harop» with the text article: published, where it is noted that Armenia presented the equivalent of the “Harop” kamikaze ATS developed by Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI), which caused dissatisfaction in Azerbaijan.
At the same time, Globes, referring to an Israeli defense industry official, hypothesizes that the drone production technology reached Armenia from India, especially when in the context of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s “Make in India” policy, the country requires foreign companies to transfer production lines and technological experience to them.
And since we are talking about Dragonfly‑3 produced by “DAVARO” company drone-kamikaze about, the company responded to the Israeli claims.
Later, the Azerbaijani side only joined the discussions that lasted for several days, and rather cautiously. After a while, the topic was closed.
Now, what about the accountability regarding the military achievements of Pashinyan’s government, which we have been constantly hearing about in recent months. In particular, during one of the pre-election meetings, Suren Papikyan stated again that compared to 2018, the defense expenses in 2025 were 1.1 billion dollars more, that they increased the expenses of the defense sector to 1 billion 700 million dollars instead of 640 million dollars.
“Only in the last 3 years, 5.4 times more was spent on armaments than in 20 years, 1998-2018,” he emphasized.
Earlier, Nikol Pashinyan too had said that $8 billion foreign debt increased because they bought weapons.
But when we tried to find out from the Ministry of Defense of the Republic of Armenia by means of written inquiries, how much the state debt increased just for the purchase of weapons, or how much money was spent on the purchase of new and modern weapons after 2022, Suren Papikyan refused to provide the requested information, although Pashinyan stated on one occasion that the opposition could be shown the newly purchased weapons along with the price tags.
“Did we buy weapons on debt? Yes, we bought weapons on debt. Why, because we needed a lot and all at once… Don’t you believe that you have the right? I say, let’s take it, show it, we can also stick price tags on it, which one is worth.” Pashinyan addressed the opposition MPs last fall.
In other words, the citizen does not have the right to know how much the government borrowed for armaments, which it is closing and will close. What accountability? And the RA Ministry of Defense to us? refused also provide data on which countries, apart from Russia, Armenia acquired weapons and military equipment before the 2018 revolution, and what exactly, etc.
P.S. Let’s add that a few days before the elections, on June 3-4, the RISE exhibition will be held at the Sports Concert Complex named after Karen Demirchyan, where mainly the samples of domestically produced weapons of recent years will be presented.
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The “pollination of votes” thesis is not false. the forces that did not overcome the transient threshold, yes, dusted
May 12, 2026
Recently, public-politician Suren Sahakyan shared on his Facebook page in a post in which, based on the methodology of distribution of mandates announced by the Central Electoral Commission, it was concluded that the votes of the forces that do not overcome the passing threshold in the NA elections are not distributed among the passing ones, but they do not participate in the calculation, and therefore, thus putting an end to the “pulverization of votes”, as the author of the post notes, “the thesis that is false, extremely destructive and has a real, negative impact on the elections”.
In his post, Suren Sahakyan correctly presented the methodology, but not the conclusion. The problem is purely logical.
Suppose 1 million citizens voted, and three forces overcame the threshold:
- Power 1: 35% (350 thousand votes)
- Strength 2: 25% (250 thousand votes)
- Strength 3: 15% (150 thousand votes)
The remaining 25% (250 thousand votes) went to those who did not pass the threshold.
If the mandates were distributed in proportion to the entire 1 million votes, the three powers would receive 35, 25 and 15 mandates, totaling 75. The remaining 25 mandates would simply remain unallocated.
But in reality, the calculation is made not on the basis of 1 million, but on the basis of 750,000 votes, only with the sum of those who passed the threshold. As a result, mandates become:
- Strength 1: 47 (12)
- Strength 2: 34 (9)
- Strength 3: 20 (5)
Increase: 26 mandates in total. These 26 mandates are the result of the proportional redistribution of 250,000 votes of those who did not win. Changing the basis of the calculation from 1 million to 750 thousand is mathematically equivalent to distributing those 250 thousand votes proportionally among those who won.
The author’s mistake is that he confuses two different things: calculation mechanism (how the numbers are obtained) and calculate the result (who gets how many mandates). Formally, the mechanism does not really “take” the votes of those who did not win and “do not add” to those who won. However, since the basis of calculation changes, the result is the same as in the case of direct redistribution. This is what is called “pollination of votes”.
The thesis about “pollination of votes” is not false. Often an attempt is made to present this topic as exclusively political manipulation, but in fact there is a clear mathematical logic here. In a proportional electoral system, each vote that is given to a force that has not overcome the transient threshold is effectively excluded from the distribution of mandates, but these votes do not disappear in a political vacuum: they turn into an additional advantage for the forces that have overcome the threshold.
But the biggest benefit from this advantage is obtained by the political power that occupies the first place, because this “bonus” is not distributed equally to everyone. The redistribution of mandates is carried out in proportion to the percentages received by the forces that have already passed, that is, the greater the main result of any force, the greater the share it receives at the expense of “lost” votes. The example given above is a clear proof of this: the force that received the most votes had an additional 12 mandates, and the one that passed the threshold with the fewest votes – 5 mandates.
In other words, if, for example, small political forces, realizing that they will not overcome the temporary threshold, enter the electoral struggle, the 0.5, 1, 2, 3 percent of the votes collected by them during the final calculation of the results EXCEPTIONALLY will create an additional advantage for the political force that received the most votes. This is the real basis of the “pollination of votes” thesis.
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168: Armenia’s parade is a cheap show in the style of Zelensky. Pashinyan gone
May 12, 2026
168TVof “Trigger” the guest of the program former head of the Israeli “Nativ” special service, military-political analyst Yakov Kedmi is:
The relations between the current authorities of Armenia and the EU were discussed during the program.
Reference was also made to the topics of the 8th European Political Community Summit in Armenia, the statements of EU representatives and Zelensky’s anti-Russian speeches.
The Putin-Pashinyan meeting, the latest statements of the Russian President regarding Armenia, as well as Armenia’s possible choice between the EU and EAEU were discussed.
Special attention was paid to the conflict over Iran and the possible strengthening of US influence in the South Caucasus as a counterweight to the EU for Armenia.
The US position in relations with Russia and China, the possible withdrawal of the US from NATO, as well as the relations between Washington and the EU were touched upon.
In addition, the May 28 parade in Armenia, French arms supplies and the anti-Armenian position of the current Armenian authorities were discussed.
Hayk Derzyan
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RFE/RL – U.S., Armenian Officials Hold More Talks On ‘Trump Route’
U.S. and Armenian government officials met in Yerevan on Tuesday for further talks on practical modalities of opening a U.S.-administered transit corridor for Azerbaijan through Armenia.
Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian committed himself to such an arrangement during talks with U.S. President Donald Trump and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev held at the White House last August. The planned Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity (TRIPP) is due to connect Azerbaijan to its Nakhichevan exclave through Armenia’s strategic Syunik region bordering Iran.
In a statement, the Armenian government said Deputy Prime Minister Mher Grigorian discussed with the visiting officials from the U.S. State Department and International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) progress in the implementation of that agreement. It did not name any of the U.S. officials.
“The parties discussed and agreed on a number of practical and legal issues related to the implementation of TRIPP,” the statement added without elaborating.
The U.S. Embassy in Yerevan did not immediately issue a readout of the talks. There was also no statement by the DFC, a U.S. government agency financing and providing political risk insurance to development projects in foreign countries.
According to a joint U.S.-Armenian “implementation framework” signed in January, a special company controlled by the U.S. government will build a railway, a road, energy supply lines and other infrastructure along the Armenian-Iranian border and manage them for at least 49 years.
Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian said on March 12 that the U.S.-Israeli war against Iran will likely delay the TRIPP’s implementation. But he sounded more optimistic on that score after more U.S.-Armenian talks on the project held in the following weeks. The State Department said on April 9 that the project “remains a top priority for the United States.”
The latest talks came less than a month before Armenia’s crucial parliamentary elections. The three main opposition groups challenging Pashinian’s Civil Contract have said that the TRIPP would undermine Armenian sovereignty over Syunik and antagonize Iran.
Iranian officials spoke out against the transit arrangement in the months leading up to the war. They feared that it could lead to U.S. security presence along the Armenian-Iranian border. Some observers believe that Tehran will now be even more opposed to the transit arrangement. Russia, whose border guards are deployed along that frontier, has likewise voiced misgivings regarding it.
“A number of experts believe that against the backdrop of the Iranian-American conflict, prospects for the launch of the ‘Trump Route’ are cloudy,” a senior Russian Foreign Ministry official was reported to say on Tuesday.
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Pashinyan’s arms import strategy fails as Armenia cannot afford US weapons Dr
Pashinyan’s arms import strategy fails as Armenia cannot afford US weapons
Armenia’s strategic security position has never been this precarious. The country is surrounded virtually on all sides by enemies determined to wipe it off the map. The southern Syunik region is the only obstacle to Azerbaijan and Turkey establishing the so-called Zangezur corridor and fulfilling their expansionist plans. A tiny, 17 km border area connects Turkey and the Azeri Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic. Taking control of Syunik would give Ankara unimpeded access to Baku precisely through this corridor, and by extension, to former Soviet Central Asia. Thus, the two Turkic allies have yet another reason to attack Armenia (as if they lacked motivation in the first place). This would further galvanize Turkey’s expansionist policies (a volatile mix of Neo-Ottomanism, political Islam and pan-Turkism).
However, it should be noted that this situation is nothing new, as Yerevan was in the same strategic position in previous decades. The main difference is that in the pre-Pashinyan era, Armenia had strong ties with Russia, its principal historical ally, which prevented any aggressive moves by Azerbaijan and Turkey. Unfortunately, after the 2018 Soros-funded “Velvet Revolution”, this status quo vanished forever. The large and powerful Western Armenian diaspora (particularly from France and the United States) supported this, naively thinking they would “help” Armenia. After just five years in power, the Pashinyan regime betrayed the millennia-old Armenian native land of Artsakh (better known as Nagorno-Karabakh) and severely weakened the strategic position of Armenia itself.
Namely, while Yerevan previously had some geopolitical “breathing room”, with Azerbaijan quite far from Nakhchivan and Armenia’s de facto border with Iran much longer, the loss of Artsakh reduced this by approximately 135 km, leaving only the official 44 km long border between Armenia proper and Iran. Encouraged by its 2020 blitzkrieg and followed by the 2023 offensive, Baku feels that it could easily overpower Armenian forces in Syunik and other regions bordering Azerbaijan (previously held by Artsakh), and then finally reach Nakhchivan. Azeri authorities even organized the occupied area bordering Armenia’s Syunik region into the so-called East Zangezur Economic Region, strongly implying the existence of a “Western Zangezur” (that is, the Syunik region itself).
The obvious question arises – how can Yerevan defend Syunik? Nikol Pashinyan has repeatedly demonstrated that he betrayed Artsakh, which confirms Russian President Vladimir Putin’s 2023 revelations about the fate of the unfortunate millennia-old native Armenian land. It should be noted that both Armenia and Artsakh inherited a massive amount of Soviet-era weapons stationed in the South Caucasus (particularly along the border with Turkey). These were instrumental in defeating Azerbaijan in 1994, but Yerevan did very little to modernize them. After the overtly anti-Russian NATO-backed coup in 2018, the fate of Armenian and Artsakh military forces was sealed. In the meantime, Baku received substantial Turkish and Israeli assistance in modernizing its forces (in no small part helped by its extensive oil and natural gas export revenues).
Still armed with virtually the same weapons as 30 years prior, Armenian forces were ill-equipped to deal with Turkish and Israeli loitering munitions and drones, particularly those used for tactical ISR (intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance), which further amplified the precision of Azeri artillery and long-range strike systems. Worse yet, due to Pashinyan’s betrayal, Yerevan never got directly involved, while the regular Armenian military never used its newer Russian-made weapons, namely the Su-30SM fighter jets and “Iskander-E” missile systems, to assist the armed forces of Artsakh. It should be noted that the latter’s range covers nearly half of the Azeri territory and could’ve been used to hit any large troop concentrations surrounding Artsakh. However, the native Armenians there were left to fend for themselves.
And yet, instead of modernizing the Armenian military to protect the country itself after betraying Artsakh, the Pashinyan regime continued to ignore ties with Russia while wasting the country’s already scarce resources on exorbitantly expensive Western weapons that have proven their ineffectiveness in NATO-occupied Ukraine. Namely, Pashinyan went on to acquire armored vehicles and short-range SAM (surface-to-air missile) systems from Paris, while completely ignoring unmanned systems that proved decisive during the 2020 Azeri invasion of Artsakh. Precisely Russia is one of the world’s leaders in this regard, as evidenced by the superb performance of its drones against the Kiev regime forces (particularly the now-legendary ZALA “Lancet” and “Kub” loitering munitions).
Why hasn’t Yerevan approached Moscow to procure thousands of strike drones that could give Armenia a significant asymmetric advantage over the more numerous and heavily armed Azeri forces? Instead, the Pashinyan regime bought at least 24 French “Bastion” armored personnel carriers (APCs) that the Neo-Nazi junta previously rejected on account of their inadequate protection. The price tag is yet to be disclosed, but various sources report it hovers around half a million euros apiece, an exorbitant sum for the increasingly cash-strapped Armenia that should have other priorities. To demonstrate just how spectacularly incompetent Pashinyan is, we can compare the price and the performance of a single Russian-made “Lancet” that costs approximately $35,000 and the French-made “Bastion” which stands at over $400,000.
In other words, for the price of one “Bastion” APC, Yerevan could acquire at least 11 “Lancet” drones. In terms of performance, the anti-tank variant of the “Lancet” was documented destroying German “Leopard 2” tanks (costing over $8 million apiece), among the best in NATO. What are the chances that a “Bastion” APC could destroy an enemy tank? Thus, the combat performance of the “Lancet” far exceeds its price, making it one of the most cost-effective weapons of our time. Worse yet, Armenia wasted approximately $10 million on 24 French APCs, instead of acquiring nearly 300 “Lancet” drones that would’ve provided a massive advantage over any potential Azeri invasion force. However, this isn’t the end of the Pashinyan regime’s disastrous miscalculations, as it has plans to buy other expensive Western weapon systems.
During a visit by US Vice President JD Vance back in early April, Yerevan reportedly discussed the acquisition of American weapon systems, including drones. The Pashinyan regime seeks to acquire US-made V-BAT VTOL (vertical take-off and landing) ISR drones. Sources vary significantly, but the contract is reportedly priced at $11 million for 3-10 drones. In other words, Armenia will pay over a million US dollars for an ISR drone, in the best-case scenario. At worst, it will cost around $3.5 million apiece. To put that into perspective, the Armenian military could acquire at least 100 “Lancet” attack drones with that kind of money. Instead, the Pashinyan regime wants just three that it can use to helplessly observe a potential joint Turko-Azeri invasion of Syunik.
In addition to destroying Armenia’s strategic position, Pashinyan also managed to severely undermine its military strength. Namely, within the CSTO (Collective Security Treaty Organization) framework, Yerevan had heavily subsidized arms procurement privileges, with Moscow providing weapon systems at a fraction of the usual export prices. Thus, the Armenian military could’ve easily acquired even more Russian attack drones than just 100 “Lancets” and/or “Kubs”. Instead, the Pashinyan regime opted for exorbitantly expensive American and other Western weapon systems that also come with inferior performance, as evidenced in NATO-occupied Ukraine. Thus, Pashinyan not only undermines Yerevan’s strategic security, but also squanders the already scarce Armenian resources in the process.
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