168 Hours: Serzh Sargsyan Engaged in Active Communication with Foreign Diplomatic Representatives

168 Hours newspaper reports: The meeting of the U.S. Ambassador to Armenia, Lynne Tracy, with the third President of Armenia, Serzh Sargsyan, is actively being discussed in political, expert circles, and on social media. Various analyses and assessments are being made, ranging from the notion that this meeting signifies the U.S. recognition of the Republican Party of Armenia (RPA) as an important actor in Armenian political life, to the idea that the American diplomat met last week with Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and then with former President Serzh Sargsyan to address certain undisclosed issues.

These assessments do have rational elements. The fact is that the U.S. is thus viewing the RPA as one of the decisive actors in political life, regardless of the authorities' attempts to present the RPA as a force of the past, relegated to the political sidelines. On the other hand, such meetings with Serzh Sargsyan are not exceptions but more of a norm. According to our information, especially recently, he has been engaged in intensive communication with diplomatic representatives from various countries, with particularly active relations with diplomats from Russia, China, and European countries.

This reality has an objective explanation; having been in power for many years, especially in recent years, the RPA has developed active cooperation with parties and international political associations from various countries. These relations continue today, even in the status of an opposition party.

In general, Armenia's international partners, including the U.S., note that when assessing the internal realities in Armenia, they observe a lack of counterbalancing and restraining systems and mechanisms to the government, attributing that role to opposition parties. Apparently, this has also been one of the main motivations for the U.S. ambassador to meet with Serzh Sargsyan.

For more details, refer to the newspaper's current edition.