Serzh Sargsyan Responds to Pashinyan

The third President of Armenia, Serzh Sargsyan, today responded to Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan's statements made in the National Assembly yesterday.

In particular, addressing Pashinyan's claim that during their government, Russia made a multi-billion weapons deal with Azerbaijan for the first time and that he learned about it from a letter written by Serzh Sargsyan, the former president stated, "It's hard for me to comment because if the leader of Armenia tries to speak from the National Assembly podium about a letter signed by me under a classified stamp, what can I say? I can only say the following: I have never signed any document—be it a letter, agreement, or any other document, whether classified or ordinary—on which any Armenian could be ashamed. Let it not sound immodest; on the contrary, if all the documents are published, people will see how the Armenian interests, the interests of the Armenian states, have been defended. I insist, let them publish it. If they do not publish it, then he is a liar."

He also spoke about the Armenian-Azerbaijani peace process: "You do not go to peace in such a way. Peace is achieved by protecting the country, showing that they are capable of ensuring the safety of their citizens, demonstrating that at least after so many failures, an Azerbaijani soldier cannot enter the Republic of Armenia and wander around for several days. Who would go for peace with such a country?" According to Sargsyan, if any document is signed under these conditions, it means that the Armenian interests will again be ignored in that document.