Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has said that there were grounds to no longer regard Russia as a strategic partner, citing Moscow’s response to the September 2022 clashes between Armenia and Azerbaijan.
Speaking at a news conference on Thursday in the capital, Yerevan, Pashinyan accused Russia and the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) of failing to fulfil their security obligations during the escalation.
“After the events of September 2022, how can we say that there is a strategic partnership?” Pashinyan said, responding to a question about why Russia was not described as a strategic partner in the Armenian government’s programme for 2026–2031.
“If we now write ‘strategic partnership’, you will ask why Russia and the CSTO did not fulfil their security obligations in September 2022. What should I answer you?” he said.
The programme instead says Armenia will continue dialogue aimed at mutually beneficial, multi-sector cooperation with Russia while transforming relations with Moscow “under the new conditions of establishing peace in the region” and pursuing a balanced foreign policy.
Presenting the programme to parliament, Pashinyan said the transformation of Armenian-Russian relations was a natural process following the establishment of peace between Armenia and Azerbaijan.
Responding to Armenia’s claims, Russian officials have repeatedly said Moscow’s security obligations did not extend to Karabakh, which is internationally recognised as part of Azerbaijan, and applied only to Armenia’s internationally recognised territory.
Armenia and Azerbaijan fought several wars and confrontations over the Karabakh region from the late 1980s. Azerbaijan liberated the region and regained full control of the territory in 2023.
