Azernews.Az

By Abdul Kerimkhanov

Yerevan strictly follows George Soros’ commandments and puts itself in confrontation with its closest strategic ally Russia, Evgeny Mikhailov, Russian political analyst said in an interview with Azernews.

Mikhailov believes that Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan's statement that he twice refused to meet George Soros, the Founder of the Open Society Foundations, does not mean that Pashinyan is not linked to Soros.

"It is absolutely not necessary for the Armenian PM to tease its main and so far the only strategic ally Russia with such meetings. In principle, there is an understanding that Yerevan follows strictly the commandments of Soros and this is enough to bring Armenia to the confrontation with the whole world," the analyst said.

The main thing is that most of Pashinyan’s team was brought up with Soros’s money and they are in contact with him, the expert added.

Answering the question about the power change in Armenia, Mikhailov said that “the velvet revolution did not fully meet the expectations of the West. On the other hand, Yerevan could have followed the Ukrainian scenario, but the change of power in White House did not allow this process to intensify to the point of maximum confrontation with Moscow, as the West wanted,” the Russian analyst said.

"Against this background, Pashinyan feels very uncomfortable. He counted on more, but in my opinion, he was deceived. Now Pashinyan smiles sweetly on all sides. It seems he needs the West, but the country’s main sustainer is Russia,” Mikhaylov said, adding that Pashinyan will have to choose between Russia and the West.

Mikhailov stressed that the most useful scenario for Armenia is to start normalizing relations with Azerbaijan. It’s quite obvious that without a solution to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, Yerevan will remain in isolation for a long time, which prevents the country from developing.

"As soon as the return of the occupied territories takes place, the situation will improve dramatically. Peace with neighbors will lead to the removal of certain restrictions and the unblocking of transport routes, which will lead to an increase in trade with many countries in the region," Mikhaylov said.

Mikhailov emphasized that Armenia’s problems, such as the outflow of population and low birth rate, will be solved after Yerevan signs peace agreement with Baku.The expert assumes that in the event of the return of its territories, Azerbaijan itself will eventually be ready to invest considerable funds in the development of both Nagorno-Karabakh and indirectly Armenia itself.