Former Armenian President Robert Kocharyan, during an interview with Russian media celebrity Vladimir Pozner on Russian TV yesterday, said that Armenian PM Nikol Pashinyan is personally responsible for Armenia’s defeat in last year’s Karabakh war.

Kocharyan said that Pashinyan’s demand that the Artsakh government participate in negotiations was ill-advised and lead to a settlement deadlock.

Kocharyan said there was an opportunity to end the war in a completely different manner, but Pashinyan did not take responsibility for making such a decision. As a result, Armenia has lost much more than it would have lost if it had accepted Putin’s offer, made on October 19, 2020, to end the fighting on condition that Azerbaijani refugees return to Shushi.

When asked to list Armenia’s most serious problems today, Kocharyan said all sectors in the country face serious issues.

The ex-Armenian president said he plans to run Kocharyan will in this June’s   special parliamentary elections with an alliance of parties.

"Most likely, there will be two parties in the bloc," he said, without specifying which parties.

Asked if Russia has betrayed Armenia, Kocharyan, who has called for stronger ties with Moscow, said there are forces trying to foment anti-Russian sentiment in Armenia.

"This topic was raised in the past, even before the war. These are mainly the forces that are dissatisfied with the Russian orientation in Armenia. Now, a new situation has been created. The same forces are doing their best to create anti-Russian sentiment. But Russia did not provoke the war. Russia did everything possible to stop the war," Kocharyan said.

Speaking about the threats now faced by Armenia, Kocharyan said Turkey poses the main external threat.

“Of course, Turkey. The threat is historical for us. We perceive Turkey as a threat, and the Turks see us as one. This explains the closed border, the lack of diplomatic relations. The threat is that if Turkey opens the border, it will do everything to turn Armenia into a place like Adjara, in terms of its business, in terms of its economy. I see a certain danger here," said Kocharyan.

Photo from the Pozner TV show