Pashinyan Engages in Public Intimacy with Trump’s Bitterest Opponent in the U.S.

As I watch international news footage, I see Congressman Adam Schiff, one of the leaders of the impeachment against President Trump. Trump responds, saying, “What is happening in Congress is a shame and disgrace for our country. The 'witch hunt' mechanism has been set in motion again, and it’s the same people doing it. Adam Schiff and his people are concocting stories and then, with hypocritical faces, trying to ‘investigate’.”

This is the same Adam Schiff whom Nikol Pashinyan invited to his rally in Los Angeles, took a selfie with, and called to speak. More clearly, the Prime Minister of Armenia is engaging in public intimacy in the U.S. with President Donald Trump’s fiercest opponent.

Just recently, another imprudent move was made. Iranian President Rouhani is expected to arrive in Yerevan on October 1 to participate in the EAEU summit. Days before this, the official Yerevan announced the opening of an embassy in Israel. One would have to be absolutely naïve to make such an announcement just days before the Iranian president's visit to Yerevan. Couldn’t this have been done at least ten days later? Iran is a country with a long history and diplomacy and should not have to repeatedly understand with whom it is dealing, to put it mildly, in terms of coincidences.

Foreign Minister Zohrab Mnatsakanyan is not just Anna's PR manager, and it would be wise for him to inform his boss about all this in advance. Why doesn't he say something—just to avoid trouble?

Holding a rally with Adam Schiff in the U.S. is akin to going to Moscow and participating in a Navalny rally. On the other hand, this is to be expected from the current authorities.

If in one year you can escalate to the brink of a hybrid war with Russia when even middle-ranking businesspeople are ‘advised’ not to invest in Armenia, when over a thousand vehicles are stuck at Lars for ‘technical’ reasons, when the Russian railway wants to prematurely terminate its agreement on the operation of the Armenian railway, then...

Representatives of the Armenian government are either exporting a colored revolution to Russia with international foundations or are in intensive communication with anti-Putin forces, or are handing Putin over in Yerevan. One day, Pashinyan will take a selfie with Navalny.

These are not minor hiccups; these are actions that threaten the security of the state—whether driven by a lack of literacy or by design, I do not know.

Marina Sukiasyan
“Alternative Projects Group”