Report's chief: Armenia becoming battleground for external actors

Armenia is increasingly becoming a battleground for external actors, Fuad Huseynaliyev, the director of Report Information Agency, said in a recent interview with CBC.

"Our region is currently witnessing a very interesting game involving many international actors, some overtly and some covertly," Huseynaliyev stated. He pointed out France as an overt actor actively promoting its interests in Armenia, while the United States and Russia are among the covert players.

Huseynaliyev noted that despite the Armenian government's anti-Russian rhetoric, Russia has not taken any significant actions against Armenia. On the contrary, trade between the two countries has been growing rapidly, likely as a means to circumvent Western sanctions.

"This is primarily related, as I understand it, to circumventing Western sanctions. However, Western countries themselves turn a blind eye to this. It doesn't concern the USA, Europe, including France, or any other countries. Pashinyan claims that on one hand, he seems to be moving away from Russia's influence, while on the other hand, he indicates that Armenia will be a stronghold for the West. Currently, Armenia is being pumped with Western weapons, and by the way, not only Western - deliveries of Russian weapons have also begun, as reported by some of our websites," he said..

Huseynaliyev emphasized that Armenia is turning into a tangle of interests where countries with vastly different positions on other issues are converging. "When such disparate actors as the West, on one hand, and Russia, on the other hand, concentrate in one country, I don't think it will lead to anything good, even in the medium term, let alone the long term," he warned.

The expert also pointed out the contradiction in Prime Minister Pashinyan's statements about wanting Armenia to be free from the influence of third parties while simultaneously inviting Western companies, technologies, and weapons, despite the country's heavy dependence on Russian presence.

"Naturally, at some point, that will lead to the emergence of a tinderbox. The path to being truly independent from the influence of external actors is through full-fledged peace with Azerbaijan, followed by the normalization of relations with Türkiye and the unblocking of regional communications," Huseynaliyev stressed. However, he noted that there are currently no prerequisites for this, and Armenia is instead becoming increasingly entangled in games and turning into a battlefield for external actors.