Pashinian voiced the criticism at the end of a visit to Munich during which he attended an annual conference on international security and met with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and British intelligence chief Richard Moore. He cited a December 1991 declaration in which Russia, Ukraine, Armenia and other newly independent Soviet republics recognized each other’s Soviet-era borders.
“On the question of Ukraine, our position is that the Almaty declaration is the basis for recognition of our independence and territorial integrity,” Pashinian told members of the Armenian community in the southern German city. “Our logic is also valid in the case of Ukraine because that document applies to all of us. And if we demolish that, then we will also demolish everything.”
“I said a long time ago that Armenia is not Russia's ally on the issue of Ukraine, and this is our sincere position,” he said.
Russia reacted cautiously to Pashinian’s remarks.
“Indeed, we have diametrically opposed points of view regarding what is happening in Ukraine and the conflict around Ukraine,” said Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov. “This is not a secret, this is the well-known position of our Armenian friends. We do not agree with them on this and will persistently continue to explain that we are right.”
Armenian leaders were until now careful not to criticize Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine and subsequent annexation of more Ukrainian territory. Armenia has repeatedly abstained from UN General Assembly resolutions denouncing Moscow’s actions.
Pashinian’s administration appears to have begun changing its stance on the conflict in Ukraine last year amid its mounting tensions with Moscow. Pashinian made a point of talking to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy during a European Union summit in Spain last October.
A couple of weeks later, the secretary of Armenia’s Security Council, Armen Grigorian, attended multilateral peace talks in Malta initiated by Ukraine and sponsored by Western powers. The Russian Foreign Ministry condemned the “demonstrative anti-Russian gesture of official Yerevan.” That did not stop Grigorian from participating in the next round of the talks held in Switzerland last month.
Pashinian embarked on the apparent rapprochement with Ukraine despite the latter’s strong support for Azerbaijan in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. In particular, Kyiv was quick to condemn the September 9 election by Karabakh lawmakers of the region’s new president, saying that it is “contrary to the rules and principles of international law.” The election came ten days before the Azerbaijani military offensive that forced Karabakh’s practically entire population to flee to Armenia.
