In a lengthy interview today with RIA Novosti, former Armenian President Robert Kocharyan, running for the post of prime minister, said Armenia’s defeat in last year’s war prompted him to return to politics.

“What has happened in the country for the last three years. The strongest impetus, of course, was the war, which shouldn't have happened, and the defeat, which shouldn't have happened either. We have paid too dear a price for the unbridled populism of the current authorities, and it just needs to be stopped,” said Kocharyan who heads the Hayastan (Armenia) bloc.

Regarding the Karabakh issue, Kocharyan said there’s a good possibility that negotiations can lead to an agreement by which the former borders of the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Region can be restored.

“At least here we have a fairly strong argumentation, it is linked to the nation's right to self-determination. Therefore, here I see certain prospects for negotiations. In what format can the talks be held - so far this is the format of the OSCE Minsk Group,” Kocharyan said.

The former Armenian President again blamed the Pashinyan government for the Armenian defeat in last year’s war.

“Mediocre command and control in Armenia itself, mediocre command and control of troops. An absolute misunderstanding of what war is, what mobilization is, what is the formation of a mobilization resource, what is the replenishment of the army. Any army in the event of a large-scale war can only withstand a week and a half with its human resources and potential. Then the state enters with all its might, there is a mobilization of people, preparation of reserves, replenishment. Here the failure was complete,” Kocharyan said.

Kocharyan also lambasted Pashinyan’s proposal that his son be sent to Baku in exchange for the release of Armenian POWs.

“As for the son exchange, this is another example cheap populism. We do not live in the Middle Ages when transactions of a family nature were used to guarantee the fulfillment of some obligations. I do not think that this cheap populism was taken seriously by anyone in the country, except for people who do not think very well.”

Regarding Russia’s stance during last year’s war, Kocharyan said that Moscow found itself in an “extremely sensitive situation.”

“On the one hand, Russia, a military-political ally of Armenia, on the other, a mediator, a co-chair in the Minsk Group, which implies a certain equidistance from the parties. On the third hand, Russia is Azerbaijan's neighbor, and Russia is trying to build friendly relations with Azerbaijan as well. That is, the situation is exceedingly difficult. Expectations in Armenia were at odds with what Russia can do in this situation. For her, the picture is not black and white. She was indeed in a rather awkward situation. From the point of view of Russian interests, the only right thing to do was to stop the war as soon as possible. And Russia tried to do this from the first days of the conflict,” Kocharyan said.

Kocharyan said that if he returns to power, he’ll invite Karen Karapetyan, who served as prime minister under Serzh Sargsyan, to return to government service. Karapetyan also served as Yerevan mayor from December 2010 to November 2011.

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