Pashinian complained about the Azerbaijani “policy of military coercion” on Thursday, saying that it is aimed at clinching more Armenian territory and other concessions from Yerevan. He said Baku may be planning to launch a “full-scale war against Armenia.” The Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry dismissed the claim.
Sarkisian said Pashinian’s comments were designed to prepare the ground for meeting Azerbaijani demands.
“As a result of that pressure, something will again be surrendered without [Armenia getting] anything in return,” he told reporters.
Sarkisian’s Republican Party is one of Armenia’s leading opposition groups which say that Pashinian’s appeasement policy cannot lead to lasting peace and would only encourage Baku to demand more Armenian concessions. They say the Armenian government has failed to rebuild the country’s armed forces since the 2020 war in Nagorno-Karabakh.
Sarkisian, who ruled the country from 2008-2018, charged that the government is now actually “suppressing” Armenian army units protecting the border with Azerbaijan.
On Tuesday, Azerbaijani forces opened fire at one of the sections of the border, killing four Armenian soldiers and wounding another. Baku said that they did so in retaliation against the alleged wounding of an Azerbaijani serviceman by Armenian cross-border fire on Monday.
In an unprecedented move, the Armenian military did not deny that its troops deployed in the area violated the ceasefire. It pledged to investigate the reported incident and, if necessary, punish military personnel responsible for it.
“If the Azerbaijanis attack tomorrow or the day after, I think that our soldiers will not necessarily have a desire to resist because they could be investigated and punished for that resistance,” said Sarkisian, who has also served as Armenia’s defense minister in the past.