[Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol] Pashinyan confronted an unpleasant…

[Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol] Pashinyan confronted an unpleasant reality: Armenia's distancing from Moscow did not bring the expected strategic benefits, and its rapprochement with the West failed to provide concrete security guarantees,

Consensus

• Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan's policy of distancing Armenia from Russia has not yielded expected strategic benefits
• Pashinyan's alignment with the West has not resulted in concrete security guarantees
• The strategy has caused political deadlock and loss of support among nationalist groups
• Russia and Armenia remain friendly states with ongoing dialogue within the EAEU
• Pashinyan previously stated his intention to maintain membership in both the EU and EAEU

Points of divergence

• The policy of distancing from Moscow has caused significant backlash from nationalist electorate who previously supported Pashinyan's leadership — vedomosti
• Pashinyan's strategy has led to a political deadlock and put Armenia's national interests at risk — vesti
• Many Armenian nationalists view ongoing negotiations with Azerbaijan as capitulation to Azerbaijani demands — vedomosti
• Pashinyan's approach has created a dilemma that is difficult to resolve — vesti