«Zhamanak»: The Pashinyan-Putin Meeting Becomes Intriguing

«Zhamanak» newspaper reports: "One of the intriguing behind-the-scenes aspects of the EAEU summit scheduled for May 29 in the capital of Kazakhstan is whether a bilateral meeting will take place between Pashinyan and Putin. This intrigue has been exacerbated by the political developments in Armenia, which have a broad 'spread'—Armenia, Artsakh, the well-known statements of Russian emissaries Kolerov and Tarasov regarding the Russian mandate in Artsakh, the court case of Robert Kocharyan and the change in his bail conditions, and also the question concerning Mihran Poghosyan, and perhaps one of the most important ones: the parliamentary inquiry commission of the April war.

At first glance, this issue appears to relate to Armenia's internal problems tied to the circumstances of the war; however, considering the internal and external political environment in which aggression has brewed over the past few years, and the significant, pivotal role that the Russian factor has played in this, one can imagine what kind of reaction or expectation the step of investigating the April war through a parliamentary commission might elicit in Russia.

From this perspective, the Pashinyan-Putin meeting becomes intriguing, or rather, receives an additional dose of intrigue, as these meetings have never lacked intrigue since the Velvet Revolution. The core issue here is that, despite the apparent absence of harsh confrontations and Pashinyan's understandable diplomatic assurances that everything is fine with Putin, Armenian-Russian relations need organic revision because it is evident that the Armenian Velvet Revolution is viewed as a threat in Russia, on an Eurasian scale, while Russia and the Eurasian club are considered a threat to the Armenian Velvet Revolution.

Moreover, the subtle peculiarity of the situation is that under the maintenance of this organic confrontation, there will be no winners or losers; both Armenia and Russia will lose. And this loss engages quite a significant and active number of regional-Eurasian, as well as internal Russian and Armenian circles, because the defeat of the states of Armenia and Russia will cost them billions flowing into personal or group pockets.

The Velvet Revolution in Armenia is a stone that has emerged on this path of 'monetization' and these groups are actively trying to neutralize it. Will Putin help or hinder them?"

For more details, see today’s issue of the newspaper.