Where and Under What Conditions Was the Recording Published by Serj Sargsyan Made?

Former President Serj Sargsyan announced yesterday that he is giving Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan 24 hours to present at least one piece of evidence regarding the alleged embezzlement of funds from casinos by the people and the army. He stated that if no evidence is published, he would reveal such facts about Pashinyan that the people would 'spit in his face.' The 24 hours have passed, and Pashinyan did not present any facts, leading Sargsyan to release the promised evidence during a meeting in the Gegharkunik region—a recording about how Pashinyan derailed the negotiation process and led Armenia into war and defeat.

In this scandalous recording, Nikol Pashinyan recounts how Putin, Nazarbayev, and Lukashenko convinced him to resolve the Nagorno-Karabakh issue by offering the 'Lavrov Plan.' Pashinyan initially maneuvers quite successfully, insisting that without clarification of the status of Artsakh, this issue is not even a topic of discussion. The scandalous part of the recording is Pashinyan’s confession that he must pretend to be an idiot and act unreasonably. At that point, Putin, Nazarbayev, and Lukashenko assert that Aliyev understands that Karabakh will never again be part of Azerbaijan.

He states, 'You are saying something great. Let’s write that on paper, and that will become a topic that will be interesting, which I will place under my arm, go tell the people: “Dear people, we have such an offer, is this interesting to us or not?”' As a result of all this, I understood that they wanted to place me on the very conveyor belt which, by the end of the discussion, led to the April War—smiling, drinking, talking. It became clear to me that however it happens, I must jump off that conveyor and land somewhere else, definitely not on that one. That will be, excuse my expression, a bit like being made a fool, a little bit of being inadequate, but that will be the case; however, I must escape from that conveyor. At that time, the situation was very risky. It was extremely risky,' the recording elaborates.

Sargsyan commented after the release of the recording: 'Do you understand? He simply says that he will do everything to nullify the previously negotiated documents, saying that he is ready to be made a fool. The conclusion is that this person is not a madman; he is putting himself in that position.'

However, it is not apparent from the recording where and with whom Pashinyan is speaking. According to 'Hraparak,' the recording was made in November 2019 in Yerevan when Pashinyan met with a delegation from the party of Artsakh’s President Arayik Harutyunyan and shared all this information. Most likely, one of the party members who participated in the meeting recorded Pashinyan's remarks.