Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan sparked renewed controversy on Thursday after telling parliament that the loss of Nagorno-Karabakh should be viewed as a net gain for Armenia’s statehood.
“It is often said that we have lost Nagorno-Karabakh. In fact, I have often thought about this issue. But my conclusion is the following: We have not lost Nagorno-Karabakh—we have gained Armenian statehood. This is the truth,” Pashinyan stated during an address to the National Assembly.
His remarks come as a long-anticipated peace agreement between Armenia and Azerbaijan remains stalled, despite earlier reports in 2024 suggesting a deal was near.
Nagorno-Karabakh was a self-declared ethnic Armenian republic that broke away from Azerbaijan in 1992, during the collapse of the Soviet Union. The territory, which also included Azerbaijani land seized in 1993, remained unrecognized internationally. In two major offensives—first in 2020 and again in 2023—Azerbaijan fully recaptured the region, resulting in the exodus of over 120,000 ethnic Armenians.
Pashinyan has faced intense criticism from Armenian opposition parties for what many view as his abandonment of Nagorno-Karabakh. When Azerbaijan launched its final offensive on September 19, 2023, Pashinyan declared, “Armenia is not involved in military operations, and I want to note again that Armenia does not have an army in Nagorno-Karabakh. At present, we will not take any rash actions,” effectively sealing the fate of the breakaway republic.
Azerbaijan currently occupies parts of Armenia’s internationally recognized territory and, in May, Armenia also ceded four villages to Baku that Azerbaijan had long claimed.
Responding to Pashinyan’s latest remarks, Andranik Tevanyan, a parliamentarian with the opposition Mother Armenia Bloc, stated:
“Pashinyan’s remarks are a continuation of his betrayal of Artsakh and an attempt to erase our national identity. By claiming we ‘found’ Armenia by losing Nagorno-Karabakh, he insults the memory of those who fought and died for Artsakh. His words are a disgrace and a justification for his failures.”
Since coming to power in 2018 following a Western-backed “color revolution,” Pashinyan has sought to reorient Armenia’s foreign policy toward the West. Though he has recently reaffirmed participation in regional institutions alongside Russia and even attended the May 9 Victory Day celebrations in Moscow, his broader policy direction has moved away from Armenia’s traditional alliance with the Kremlin.