VIDEO. Pashinyan Addressed Serzh Sargsyan's Recent Statement

Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, during a question-and-answer session in the National Assembly, addressed the recent statement made by Serzh Sargsyan, who claimed, "I became Prime Minister to remove this calamity from Armenia." Pashinyan noted that the context of Sargsyan's words suggests they are related to the complexities arising around the Nagorno-Karabakh issue. He stated, "At the moment he decided to run again for Prime Minister, according to him, he was aware of the impending calamity. Therefore, this is a statement that not only reaffirms our assessments regarding the negotiation process of the Nagorno-Karabakh issue as of 2018, but also adds new nuances and reinforces those assessments."

According to Pashinyan, this neutralizes claims that a diplomatic victory situation existed between 2017 and 2018: "Being in a situation of diplomatic victories does not mean leading the country into an impending calamity." The Prime Minister posed a question about what state or institutional information exists in the country regarding negotiations conducted before 2018: "Four pages—fine, four, let's assume there is one thin folder. I say responsibly that later when a question arises about what has happened in our region—meetings, conversations, discussions, thoughts—no authority in Armenia will have a problem knowing where, what has been said. What is right to say, and what is wrong is a matter of assessment. But this is also a very important nuance."

Pashinyan mentioned that he attempted to engage with representatives of the former government to understand what had occurred. According to him, they tried to create a virtual reality and responded in the same manner as they did when he was in opposition. "How is it that Serzh Sargsyan and his team, after being ousted, kept sending letters to the government regarding everyday issues, yet they could not say, 'Government, you are facing an impending calamity, I recommend the following'?”