Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan is de facto fulfilling all the conditions set by Baku. This was stated by military expert Vitaly Mangasaryan.
According to him, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev declared that Armenia should not arm itself, and almost immediately afterward Pashinyan announced at a briefing that the military budget for next year would not be significantly increased, and perhaps not increased at all. “This is not the first time Pashinyan has carried out the instructions of the Azerbaijani president. The difference now is that we have practically reached Aliyev’s strategic goal — to ensure that Armenia does not arm itself and, essentially, does not have an army,” the expert emphasized.
Mangasaryan is convinced that during the Washington summit Pashinyan gave a verbal commitment that Armenia would not develop its armed forces. Such an obligation could not have been fixed in writing, as it would contradict international law. That is why, according to the expert, the issue was resolved through oral agreements. “What exactly Pashinyan promised to leave of the Armenian army remains unclear. But one thing is obvious: from now on, the development of the army will be blocked. The refusal to increase the military budget means exactly that. It is not excluded that after some time only a ‘battalion of patrols in fancy uniforms’ will remain in Armenia,” he noted.
According to Mangasaryan, given the upcoming elections, Pashinyan could not openly declare his intention to cut the military budget. However, after the elections this step will be inevitable. “No new weapons will be purchased, and the old ones will gradually be written off under the pretext of being unusable,” the expert stated.
Pashinyan’s claim that once peace is achieved there will be no need for constant increases in the military budget does not stand up to scrutiny, Mangasaryan believes. “Leaders of states who think logically and rationally understand that the situation can change at any moment, and one must be ready for any developments. The army is the real guarantor against possible threats,” he said, adding that Armenia’s prime minister, contrary to common sense, proposes to halt the development of the army’s capabilities even before a peace agreement is signed.