Yerevan /Mediamax/. Armenia’s Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan stated that “we see the addressing of the security challenges through strengthening our sovereignty, independence.”

“The model that we will have problems with our neighbors and will have to invite other to protect us in those problems, no matter who these others are, is a vulnerable model, because these others at any point, for objective or subjective reasons, very often not wanting, very often for solving their own issues, may not be here. Even if they want to, they may not be able to help us,” Pashinyan said in an interview with Politico Europe published on the official website of the Prime Minister.

“Therefore, our strategy should be to try to maximum decrease this dependence on external help.

But this is a theory, the implementation of which particularly in our region is extremely difficult. We have social, psychological, historical, geopolitical issues in our environment, in our region,” the Prime Minister noted.

Replying to the reporter’s question Nikol Pashinyan said:

“Gazprom is supplying energy not only to the Republic of Armenia. It is supplying gas also to several other countries. These are factors, the role of which, of course, should not be underestimated, but should not be overestimated either, because yes, gas is important for the economy, for everything. But again, independence, sovereignty and statehood are for the goal of not being dependent on one factor, be it gas or any other factor. And I think that when it comes to gas and independence, it’s not right to place these two on the same level.”

Speaking about the Russian peacekeepers deployed in Artsakh, Nikol Pashinyan said:

“After November 9, 2020, the security situation has sharply changed in Nagorno Karabakh: violations of the line of contact, invasions into the territory of Nagorno Karabakh, the blockade of the Lachin Corridor, and the humanitarian crisis in Nagorno Karabakh.

All of these were supposed to be in the sphere of responsibility of the Russian peacekeepers under the trilateral statement of November 9, 2020, and in this regard, as far as these issues exist, yes, the Russian peacekeepers have failed their mission. But on the other hand, I cannot say that if the Russian peacekeepers had not been in Nagorno Karabakh, the situation in Nagorno Karabakh now would have been better.”

The Armenian premier also noted that he has bigger expectations from the West:

“The deployment of the civilian mission by the EU along the Armenian-Azerbaijani border is quite a serious support, for which I constantly thank our partners. The EU and the United States support us also in addressing the democratic reform agenda. But again, I cannot say that the support and help we are receiving are sufficient to serve our tasks and agendas. But on the other hand, we are actively working with all our partners to make our positions more clear for them and get more support as a result.”