Nikol Pashinyan told the Armenians the truth. Almost all of it

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan is undoubtedly the first Armenian leader capable of telling his people the unpleasant truth. Although he is still not telling the full truth, apparently sparing the feelings of the Armenian society and his own.

The day before, Nikol Pashinyan spoke at the conference "Comprehensive Security and Sustainability - 2025". Armenia is not a country that has ever thought about the security and stability of other countries, but over time, Yerevan began to realize that Armenian security is completely excluded if it itself poses a threat to its neighbors. Previously, the topic of security was considered only in the context of the occupied territories, which Armenia was afraid of losing. However, the Second Karabakh War made her remember where her real borders are and what is really worth worrying about. Not because someone threatens her, but because, by threatening her neighbors, she makes her own borders shaky.

At a conference in Yerevan, Pashinyan spoke quite reasonably and almost logically. Although, again, the truth was incomplete in some places.

The florid Armenian prime minister tried to explain why earlier purchases of weapons for Armenia were limited. It wasn't just about Russia's dominance, and it's true.

"Why did these restrictions disappear? As a result of the legitimacy of the strategy. Because any country, when discussing whether to start a dialogue with us in the military-technical sphere or not, has no concern that these weapons may be used for illegitimate (according to the international classification) purposes. And no one can question the right of the Republic of Armenia to defend its internationally recognized sovereign territory. It is simply impossible to dispute this," Pashinyan said.

If we put what was said into a simple and understandable language for the masses, then the Prime Minister said the following: No one wanted to cooperate with Armenia during its occupation of the territories of Azerbaijan. Her actions were considered illegitimate in the world, that is, illegal and contrary to international law, and although almost no one told her this out loud, in reality, the occupation of the neighbor's territories forced the world to keep its distance. Now that Armenia has lost the war and Azerbaijan has been freed from the shameful status of an occupier, other countries no longer shy away from military cooperation with it.

The truth looks exactly like that. Nikol Pashinyan undoubtedly wanted to say exactly that, but did not dare to pronounce the diagnosis in words understandable to the patient.

Continue

"Let them call us traitors today, but thanks to our actions in 50, 100, 150 years, the Republic of Armenia will be a state. I asked this question two years ago. Now I'm not asking this question anymore - I'm saying that it will be so. And first of all, thanks to the legitimacy strategy," the Armenian Prime Minister said.

Pashinyan's idea about the legitimacy strategy may not be very clear to the general public without explanation. Let's try to do it for the leader of a neighboring country. And when we say "leader," we don't mean it ironically. Because Armenia needed a sober-minded leader for a long time. And we can't care who rules in a neighboring country, because the tranquility of our own borders depends on it.

So, under the legitimacy strategy (correct if we are wrong) Nikol Pashinyan implied renunciation of territorial and other claims against neighboring states, as well as agreement with reasonable demands of Baku. It seems to some that Yerevan has "caved in" before Baku, but in fact this is not a deflection, but a correct interpretation of the realities. If Yerevan continues its previous policy of trying to blackmail Baku, arrange provocations, hiding behind the backs of its allies, send insane lawsuits paid for by the diaspora to international authorities, and push back all Azerbaijan's initiatives, this will not end well for Armenia. In any case, she should forget about strong statehood. The country will remain isolated, and all the prospects that opened up to it with the end of the occupation will fade and disappear. To put it even more bluntly, the Zangezur corridor, whatever it is called now after the meeting in Washington, is a salvation for Armenia. If she abandons the road, her borders and communications will remain closed. Pashinyan understands how this will end.

And there is another important point that Nikol Pashinyan approached with great expectation of understanding.

"We cannot recognize our territorial integrity on one basis, and someone else's territorial integrity on another. We recognized the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan in order to recognize the territorial integrity of Armenia. There is simply no other way," the Armenian Prime Minister said.

However, he came to this elementary idea in an ornate way, through complex mental constructions. But the conclusion was correct: the territorial integrity of each state is interconnected with the territorial integrity of its neighbors.

This is the main thing that should be remembered in Armenia. If Armenians want to preserve the statehood they have dreamed of all their history, they must understand that this prospect does not depend on Uncle Arshak from the rich American diaspora, nor on Aunt Siranush, who organizes actions against Baku in Paris, and not on the efforts of the Armenian lobby in Russia. The fate of the Armenian statehood depends only on how good a neighbor it will be for Azerbaijan.