Konstantin Zatulin, the first deputy chairman of the State Duma Committee on CIS Affairs, commented on the Armenian-Russian relations and the negotiation process on the peace treaty between Armenia and Azerbaijan in a conversation with Alpha News: "Pashinyan did not go to Russia in any case, preferring a long-distance conversation.
He and his government are taking all sorts of steps to prove that they want to break away from Russia and move to the West. I think that we will hardly achieve anything if we want to get loyalty from our ally Armenia as long as Pashinyan stands at the head of Armenia.
While dismantling the military-political alliance with Russia, he will continue to try to maintain economic ties in order to gain benefits. "We are not making demands to the Armenian government yet, but I don't think that this will continue forever, because it is already clear that this government is going in a different direction," said Zatulin. to the interests of Russia.
"I think that the tragic episode of the entire history is the loss of Nagorno Karabakh. It came under the control of Azerbaijan as a result of a military operation.
I believe that this has harmed Russia's long-term interests. It is clear that we were not ready to go to war if Armenia and its leadership were not going to do it. They never fought for Karabakh.
But the injury remains, an injury that falls into our relationship. I think that in the new year we will see a much greater demand from Russia in the Russian-Armenian relations. If we use some kind of persecution in the economy in order to abandon our military and political obligations, it will first of all concern not Pashinyan, but the population of Armenia itself, who they are not one.
It was hard for me to imagine that a person will appear at the head of Armenia who believes that Armenia should renounce its past, who will publicly talk about the fact that the Armenian Apostolic Church is a foreign agent, and not from yesterday, but from the time of the Byzantine Empire. Zatulin emphasized. There has never been and will never be a better Prime Minister of Armenia for Azerbaijan than Pashinyan, the deputy noted.
"Pashinyan is the main villain of Armenia's own national security. Azerbaijan's demands towards Armenia create a certain comfort for Pashinyan, because he has to react to it in some way, to delay the negotiations, realizing that the end point of these documents can be a death knell for his political prospects inside Armenia.
Of course, he is afraid of it, so he tries to play a good game in the bad conditions he created. Pashinyan is the main villain against Armenia's own national security. In that regard, he was ready to sign everything, including any corridor, he is just afraid that it will be the last straw, which will force people to stand up, Zatulin concluded.
