The Duran Podcast - Armenia Ditches Russia for the EU and Azerbaijan

Episode Date: August 30, 2026

Armenia Ditches Russia for the EU and Azerbaijan

All right, Alexander, let's do an update on what is going on in Armenia. It's been a while since we've talked about Armenia and Pashignan. And Pashinian has stated that he intends to take Armenia into the European Union. And he is also looking to break from Russia, including a break from Russia's security umbrella, the CSTO's security umbrella. and he is going to shift Armenia more towards Europe, the EU, the West, as well as Azerbaijan and Turkey. This is insanity from Paschignan. What are your thoughts? Well, it is insanity, but it is very typical of the kind of insanity we get from a certain type of person, I have to say, in the former Soviet space.

and Paschignan in Yerevan does have support. I think this is a key thing to understand. There are the people who are linked to the NGOs. There is a large amount of media in Armenia that supports this line. He didn't, I think, do anywhere near as well in the elections, the recent parliamentary elections, as the official figures say. but he's still in power, he's still in control, he still controls the Armenian parliament, he's already lost Nagorno-Karabakh, he is putting in jeopardy Armenia's long-term security, which is only provided by Russia.

This has been true since the late 18th century, and it was shown to be starkly true. at the end of the First World War. When the Russian Empire collapsed, every Armenian knows what happened, not just in Turkish Armenia, but what very nearly happened to the rest of Armenia too, just to say, I mean, this is not, I think, controversial history. So he's putting all that in jeopardy, but more immediately, he's putting in jeopardy

the economic and trade links between Russia and Armenia, which have been the reason why Armenia's economy has been performing relatively well over the last five, ten years. The reason Pasinian has been able to remain in power is because for most Armenians, life has been okay. The reason it has been okay is because relations with Russia at an economic level have been good. The Russians are already starting to take steps. They're starting to place restrictions on Armenian exports. The Russians have important other levers that they can also play on gas,

supply and that sort of thing, if the Russians, if that ever gets cut off, that will cause an economic crisis. If gas supply is cut off, Armenia has no alternative but to turn to Azerbaijan. Azerbaijan is its enemy. Azerbaijan still has territorial claims against Armenia. And it is certain, in my opinion, Azerbaijan still has territorial claims against Armenia. And it is certain, in my opinion, if you know anything about the kind of leadership that Azerbaijan has, it is certain to make use of that opportunity to demand even more concessions from Armenia in respect of Nahitjavan,

corridors, land corridors, all of those sort of things. It is a policy of national suicide, but Pashinyan is, I think, so compromised now, so committed to it that he will never change course. Yeah, Armenia is going to become a type of city state, Yerevan and the outskirts of Yerevan, and that's going to be it. Yes. That is going to be it. You know, Paschignan, he made a very sinister move where he conceded, is that not going to be. Kornokarabakh was Azerbaijan's. He conceded that publicly. He stated that. Yes. And then he blamed Russia and the CSTO for abandoning Armenia, which now led to his move

to the EU. And he's using all of that to fuel a lot of anti-Russian sentiments and to justify his move towards the West, which is going to be a disaster. Not only is it going to be gas from Azerbaijan, which is going to come at a very, very heavy price. But the West and the EU, they're going to swoop in and they're going to bail out Armenia's economy, and we know what that means. Exactly. We know exactly what that means. The reality is that there is no economic lifeline for Armenia from the West.

It's fantasy to think this. There is no security for Armenia. from the West. We've seen what security guarantees from the West give you. Ask the Saudis, the Emirates, the Kuwaitis,

ask the Ukrainians. But, well, Pashinyan and the people like him, and there are people like him in Yerevan are now, as I said, so deeply committed to this that they will, I mean, it is impossible for them to retreat.

what you said his decision to recognize that to say that Nagorno-Karabakh belongs to Azerbaijan, which by the way he did before the 2020 war, just to make that absolutely. I mean, before the 2020, the moment he did that, he placed Armenia and himself, of course he himself is unimportant, but Armenia on the slide. And from that point, there really is no, point of return. The church is, I think, appalled by what he's doing, but he's now in conflict with the church. He didn't allow the Catholicus a role in the opening of the Armenian parliament, which is an astonishing thing. And he is now determined, I think, to pursue this Western, pro-Western, pro-EU policy to the bitterest end, and it'll be bitter for the Armenian people.

for whom, by the way, as a Greek, I have enormous affection. Likewise. Likewise. And I've been to Yerevan many, many times. And to this day, every time I've gone to Yerevan, I have not met one person that I've spoken with that actually likes Pashignan. And I always leave Yerevan wondering, how did this guy win so many elections? How is he still in power? I've never met one person that likes Pashina.

But it's like you say, it's the NGOs, it's the media. They have a massive U.S. embassy in Yerevan, massive, huge. It's a city in itself. The U.S. embassy in Yerevan. And you have a powerful diaspora. Yes. You have a big powerful diaspora in Russia, but you also have a very big powerful diaspora in France and the United States.

Yes. And they have a lot of influence. Absolutely. Yeah. All right. We will end the video there. The derad.com. We're on X.

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