Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, in a video released today, said that while he assumed the responsibility for the failures in the recent war in Artsakh, representatives of past Armenian administrations are trying to blame his government for their mistakes.

Pashinyan said the blame game had reached a point where former Armenian President Robert Kocharyan, who took Nagorno Karabakh out of the negotiations format, is now accusing his government of reducing the Karabakh issue to a mere territorial dispute between Armenia and Azerbaijan.

Pashinyan said that over the last twenty-five years the international community more and more perceived the Karabakh issue as a territorial dispute and Armenia as an occupying force.

“This didn’t happen during the past two years. During the past two years there has been an attempt to get out of that cul-de-sac,” Pashinyan said.

He charged the person negotiating for Armenia during the 2000s as using the word “occupied” referring to the territories surrounding Nagorno Karabakh proper. Pashinyan then made a reference, for which he apologized in advance, to using the toilet in an airplane, saying that when you enter and lock the door behind you, the outside reads “occupied”.

Turning to the issue of ending the recent war, Pashinyan said it could only have been done by signing a document similar to the one he signed, with the leaders of Russia and Azerbaijan, on November 9.

He said he could have ended the war on the first day by signing such a document at declared as much at the National Assembly but that there was little support at the time.

“Now, by the way, it turns out that everyone was in favor of handing over the lands by the 5 + 2 formula. If you were in favor, we should have given back in 2016, in 2017, thus preventing the war and resolving the issue, especially after April War, since we knew what was going on,” Pashinyan said.

He said that Turkey got involved in the Karabakh issue due to the failed Armenian football diplomacy of 2007, when Ankara announced it would not establish relations with Armenia as long as the territories of Azerbaijan were occupied.

Referring to the deficiencies in the military, Pashinyan said his government had to resolve all the shortcomings, in equipment and manpower, within 2.5 years. He pointed an accusatory finger at past administrations and officials, saying millions were siphoned from the budget for personal aggrandizement.

“In two years, we had to buy everything that should have been bought and not bought in twenty years. OK, we did not buy what we did not buy twenty years ago in two years, but why didn’t you not buy it in the previous eighteen or twenty years? How is it that you considered building castles, buying islands, buying private houses in Europe, accumulating millions in Swiss banks more important than what we couldn’t buy in two and a half years.”

He said that in 2017 Armenia purchased air defense systems for US$42 million that never worked.

Referring to the military defeat, Pashinyan said that some are accusing him of making bad tactical decisions during the war.

“Now, I am personally responsible for the failures on the battlefield. Has the prime minister ever led a battle? Does the prime minister make decisions at the level of a platoon commander or even a regiment commander? Did the prime minister make decisions alone? The prime minister once made a sole decision during the war, and thanks to that decision, the 7th Defense District is in place, because some people wanted to hand over the 7th Defense District in a panic.”

Pashinyan asked if the nation will have the strength to admit that the reason for the military defeat failure was that Armenia has been a corrupt state for at least twenty- five years.

“In any case, the history of our past and our failures must be analyzed in detail. And it must happen without manipulation. And if we want it to happen effectively, it must take place in calm, peaceful, working conditions. This work will definitely be done, but real analysis is needed for calm, and today we are all in turmoil.”

Pashinyan said his government’s priority is the return of Armenian POWs and to identify and locate missing soldiers and civilians.

He talked about the resumption of the OSCE Minsk Group negotiation process, referring to the joint statement of the Foreign Ministers of Russia and France, and the US Deputy Secretary of State.

Turning to internal matters, Pashinyan reaffirmed that he will not be resigning any time soon.

He said that reforms are underway in Armenia to ensure that the people of Armenia remain in power.

“The purpose of all this is not for us or me to stay in power, but for the people to stay in power. What does this mean? This means that the citizens of Armenia have the opportunity to freely choose their government. Let me remind you that the only parliamentary election in the history of Armenia in which the results were not disputed by anyone was the 2018 parliamentary election. Some circles want to do everything possible to make the 2018 parliamentary election unique, the only one where the people made their own decisions. We will not allow this. The power of the people in Armenia cannot be questioned.”