Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan shed light on a number of pressing issues on the country’s domestic political agenda during yesterday’s government hour in the National Assembly, from which we have highlighted several relevant aspects.
In particular, he stated that the country may reduce defense spending in 2026: “We do not plan to increase defense spending in 2026 compared to 2025, but instead plan to reduce it.”
Given that after the 44-day war, Armenia has significantly intensified the procurement of weapons and, accordingly, increased defense spending, this decision can be seen as a refusal of the current Armenian authorities to pursue a policy of militarization, which is undoubtedly another result of the Washington meeting. Incidentally, on August 19, the Fitch rating agency called the initialing of a peace agreement between Armenia and Azerbaijan a “positive step,” noting that a reduction in geopolitical risks could ease Armenia’s budgetary burden in the medium term through a reduction in defense spending.
Moreover, such a change in priorities is most likely related to the new geopolitical guidelines of the official Yerevan. This scenario not only corresponds to Baku’s peaceful agenda, but also opens up real opportunities for establishing stability and security in the region.
Further, Nikol Pashinyan during the government hour once again emphasized that Armenia and Azerbaijan in Washington recognized each other’s territorial integrity, sovereignty, jurisdiction, and inviolability of borders.
“There is an objective reality and subjective perceptions. The objective reality is that Armenia and Azerbaijan in Washington once again recognized each other’s territorial integrity, sovereignty, jurisdiction, and inviolability of borders,” he said.
This message from the Armenian leader is undoubtedly aimed at the domestic audience, primarily his political opponents. That is, in fact, Pashinyan once again made it clear that the agreements signed on the American track between the leaders of Azerbaijan and Armenia are not just declarative documents, but a mutual decision of the two states to establish peace and regional stability, enshrined in the world’s number one office.
His statements that the sovereignty and jurisdiction of Armenia on its territory extend to all, without any division on the basis of nationality, race, religion or citizenship, fit into this context.
Answering the question of how the entry of Azerbaijani citizens into Armenia will be regulated if communications are unblocked, Pashinyan said that the jurisdiction of the Republic of Armenia is a state principle that applies equally to all, noting that Armenia seeks to adopt modern technologies and mechanisms, including in the issue of border crossing.
“They provide for passport control using reading devices in the normal mode. That is, without human involvement. Border guards intervene only when suspicious persons are detected,” the head of the Armenian government said, clarifying that such technologies will be used on all borders of the country – with Georgia, Iran, Turkey and Azerbaijan, as well as in airports.
In other words, Nikol Pashinyan made it clear that the entry of Azerbaijani citizens into Armenia will not create any inconvenience for them, and will be regulated by the relevant authorities of the Republic of Armenia in exactly the same way as for citizens arriving from other countries in the region.
At the same time, we consider it necessary to remind the Armenian Prime Minister that Baku has repeatedly stated that Azerbaijani citizens traveling from the main part of the country to Nakhchivan should not be inspected by Armenian border guards and customs officers. That is, access from one part of Azerbaijan to another should be unimpeded, our country’s citizens should not encounter Armenian border guards, there should be no physical contact.
Also in his speech, the Armenian leader stated that there was nothing useful in the activities of the OSCE Minsk Group.
“I don’t see anything useful in the activities of the Minsk Group, there was nothing in it. This activity was aimed at deepening the conflict, turning it into an instrument to control not only Armenia, but the entire region,” he said.
Thus, the Armenian Prime Minister once again confirmed that he is committed to a peaceful agenda, since the initiative to disband the OSCE MG was one of the key demands of the Azerbaijani side.
Summarizing the above, we would like to hope that the current Armenian authorities will still succeed in amending the country’s constitution to exclude territorial claims against Azerbaijan from its content, that is, fulfill Baku’s last requirement. And this will be the decisive step that will bring lasting peace to the region.