Putin threatens to “divorce” Armenia. He must recognize that he is losing his influence [OPINIA]

“Two mindless Russophobes in Yerevan [chodzi o premiera Armenii i prezydenta Wahagna Chaczaturiana]who speak Russian very well, spoke in broken English due to their limitations. Although it's quite possible it was on camera and then they were talking in their usual big and powerful language. All that's missing is Trump and Vance for these uneducated people to pass the English exam,” he said.

It's funny that the United Russia party, of which Medvedev is the chairman, published this statement on Telegram, which is sort of blocked [w Rosji].

Putin apparently considers marriage (without which there can be no divorce) to be the almost colonial status in which the Republic of Armenia has been in relation to Russia for most of the time. An important symbol that these relations were entering a different level – whether Putin understood it or not – was his verbal skirmish with [premierem Armenii Nikolem] Pashinyan during the Armenian Prime Minister's visit to Moscow in April: in response to Putin's attempt to interject with lectures, Pashinyan explained to him that there is freedom of speech and elections in Armenia.

As it turned out, this conversation, in its non-public part, also had an institutional significance: Pashinyan informed Putin that he would not be able to participate in the Eurasian Economic Union (EAWU) summit on May 28, and that the formal reasons were the parliamentary elections and the fact that Armenia would be gradually leaving the EAWU as planned.

Regardless of whether Pashinyan speaks good or bad English (Medvedev himself, if I remember correctly, said that he used a translator so as not to make mistakes in understanding) – if the program he presented to Putin is implemented, the Russian language, in which I am now writing these words, will cease to play the role of a colonial lingua franca (a common language for speakers of other native languages) in the South Caucasus.

The threat comes from Russia and is formulated in Russian – this means that Pashinyan's approach, which in his conversation with Vladimir Zelensky, who knows best the dangers of the Russian language, prefers poor English to dangerous Russian, is correct. Language is not just a matter of regaining sovereignty, [jest ważny] on par with the diversification of the economy.

They say Russian money

Aram Gabreljanov, once an influential media magnate, wrote the following words – on extremist Facebook, of course:

“First of all, European leaders are ready to throw people to their fate for victory over Russia. This time, after the Georgians and Ukrainians, it is the turn of the Armenians. It must be admitted that many Armenians go to the slaughter with pleasure. If the people of Armenia finally understand that they have only one chance left, and go to the elections as a whole and vote for the opposition, there is a chance. Otherwise – the abyss!”

The reference to the elections seems very important to me here. As is the threat to turn Armenia into another Ukraine, which is especially repugnant when it comes from Russians of Armenian descent.

People like that are called [w Armenii] mankurts. These are representatives of colonized nations who became slaves of the colonizers; slaves become a tool through which the local population is controlled and threats are transmitted. I will note that in Ukraine, by applying this approach to Ukrainians, even Russian-speaking ones, Russia miscalculated and instead of “three days” it has been waging war for the fifth year.

Perhaps I would advise Russian politicians and retired propagandists to take diplomacy courses, to learn to use the resources they have and not to repeat imperial mistakes, but to conduct constructive discussions – but why arm the enemy? Unfortunately, Russia has powerful means of pressure, but it uses them recklessly, and the inhabitants of countries such as Moldova or Armenia vote for anyone, as long as Russia does not start “saving” them.

A paid propagandist of Russian interests also spoke – the official representative of the Eurasia organization, blogger Mikael Badalian:

“The so-called summit of European leaders, held on May 4-5 in Yerevan, is the last chord of support from European countries for Pashinyan in his desire to transform Armenia into anti-Russia.

<...> In 2020, Ukraine delivered ammunition with banned white phosphorus to Baku, which burned our boys alive with this weapon. In 2026, Pashinyan warmly welcomes Zelensky to Yerevan and, in fact, confirms that all events that took place in 2020 took place with his consent. And of course he doesn't care about Armenian soldiers at all – in fact, he hates Armenians and doesn't even hide it.”

Deliveries of ammunition with white phosphorus from Ukraine to Azerbaijan are internationally recognized as false information: as fact-checkers have determined, this rumor was spread, without any reference to sources, by Sarik Andriasian, a Russian B-movie director of Armenian origin. It is worth recalling that in the same November 2022, when Andriasian wrote about white phosphorus, the world media accused Russia of using similar ammunition in Ukraine.

It is also worth remembering the statements of the Russian oligarch Samvel Karapetian, who is trying to directly engage in Armenia's political life and flooded the country with an election campaign:

“It worries me that this summit was devoted to protecting a small group that has one month left in power from our friendly countries [wybory parlamentarne w Armenii odbędą się 7 czerwca 2026 r.]. “What worries me is that for one pre-election photo the regional balance will be disturbed and our nation may pay for it.”

Quite a confident statement from a man who can barely speak not only English but also Armenian in the country where he is running for prime minister.

In addition, there was an endless stream of posts on X and Threads: Armenia was threatened by Russian bots and ardent supporters of the so-called special military operation. But it so happens that Armenia has something to answer to all their arguments.

New identity

Russia violated tripartite agreements and failed to fulfill its peace commitments towards the indigenous population of Arcakh (Nagorno-Karabakh Republic), thus becoming an accomplice in genocide or, at least, ethnic cleansing. The Collective Security Treaty Organization did not take any action when the war was already taking place on Armenian territory, despite official requests from the Armenian side.

In 2021-2022, Azerbaijan occupied over 150 square kilometers of internationally recognized territory of Armenia – the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) did not even express interest in violating the territorial integrity of its member, effectively showing its incompetence as a military bloc.

Armenians have every right to any attitude towards Europe, the Armenian government, and Pashinyan — personally, I often criticize him. But all this has no longer and should have no connection with Russia. Any attempt to influence the domestic or international policy of a sovereign country, in this case Armenia, is exactly what the Russian regime usually accuses America of.

Russia must recognize that it is losing its influence. That countries become independent. And if the Russian authorities really believe that Europe is worse than Russia, then this must be proven by actions, not by bans on the import of Armenian goods.

And Russia is now behaving like a child offended by the whole world – only with a nuclear button.

Many terrible things are really happening in the world, various countries are participating in this horror. I myself live in a country that was complicit in the Armenian Genocide. And unlike Russia with its propaganda narratives that it allegedly saved Armenians during the genocide, which does not correspond to reality, just like the story of “defending Armenians” during the blockade of Arcakh, Germany at least admitted its guilt. True, this is where it ends: Germany does not intend to help Armenia or compensate for this guilt in any way; Chancellor Friedrich Merz did not even consider it necessary to attend the summit in Yerevan.

For politicians like Merz to understand Armenia, we need to do enormous work — to build fundamentally new relationships with the world. Armenia and the Armenian people have a say in this process.

I hope we will be heard.