I Did Not Insist That the Army Recapture 400 Hectares—Prioritizing the Lives of Our Soldiers, Serzh Sargsyan

“Let’s speak frankly. Serzh Sargsyan on the April War failure” is the third part of an interview series.

You were accused of losing 800 hectares during the April war. Was this really a victory? Yes, undoubtedly this was a victory—a victory against an opponent who had a quantitative advantage, launched a surprise attack, and used almost all the weapons in its arsenal. We defended all our cities and villages and successfully repelled their large-scale assaults. Their goal was not to capture a few hundred hectares of land. But let’s talk about the 800 hectares. It turns out that with more precise measurements, it is actually 400 hectares and not 800. After the war, what I said was that they were able to retake 800 hectares from the security zone, meaning 0.1 percent of it. Why didn’t you give the armed forces the order to regain that portion of the security zone? During the war, I did not insist that our army recapture such a large area; I prioritized the lives of our soldiers. I was resolute in my decision.