It Is Unclear What Nikol Wants to Achieve by Proposing Papikyan for the Armenia-Russia Commission: Mikael Minasyan

The former Armenian ambassador to the Vatican, Mikael Minasyan, has made a post on his Telegram channel stating that Nikol Pashinyan has proposed to Vladimir Putin the establishment of a commission to oversee important Armenian-Russian issues, with the suggestion that the Minister of Territorial Administration and Infrastructure, Suren Papikyan, be appointed as its head.

In his post, he notes: “For a long time, Nikol was troubling Putin with the need to create a high-level Armenian-Russian commission that would take control of important issues on the bilateral agenda of Russia and Armenia. One of the smart and educated individuals from his circle whispered into the capitulator's ear that such a commission (the 'Chernomyrdin-Gore' commission) existed for issues related to the Russian-American agenda. The commission, which was intended to overcome the legacies and complications of the Cold War between the U.S. and Russia, was headed by the then Vice President of the U.S. and the Prime Minister of Russia. The significance of such a commission was so great that during Obama and Putin's tenure, for example, it was led by Sergey Lavrov and Hillary Clinton. This means that the level of the commission's leadership reflected the importance of that institution for both sides.

And so, Nikol seems to have gotten what he wanted. Putin has agreed to establish such a commission, emphasizing that Dmitry Medvedev will lead it from the Russian side. Medvedev is the former president and prime minister of Russia and currently serves as the deputy chairman of the Security Council of the Russian Federation (where he acts as Putin’s deputy), and his stature in this context highlights the seriousness of Russia's approach to Armenian-Russian relations. It was expected that the Armenian side would also be led by a figure commensurate with Medvedev. However, Nikol’s response to the question of 'Who will head the commission from the Armenian side?' has likely perplexed Putin. Nikol has given the name of Suren Papikyan, and that is quite indicative.