Hours after Azerbaijan launched a large scale attack against Artsakh, Nikol Pashinyan went on a live broadcast and asserted that “the Republic of Armenia is not involved in any military operations and I would like to reiterate once again that the Republic of Armenia does not have an army in Artsakh.”
He went on to say that, “I also want to submit to the attention of our public that internal and external forces want to force Armenia to get involved in the widescale operations (in support of Artsakh), that is evident and with our stance, we announce that we will not be pulled into the conflict.”
The latest attack by Azerbaijan comes only two days after Pashinyan’s party lost its bid for a majority in Yerevan’s city council elections and was unable to retain the mayoral position within the city. The loss in the Yerevan elections was seen as a major litmus test for Pashinyan’s rule, and confirms that support for Pashinyan has eroded tremendously in the city’s capital. With Pashinyan’s grip over power in Armenia waning, it appears that Aliyev believes Azerbaijan’s window of opportunity to occupy and control the entirety of Artsakh is closing and is rushing to finish what was started in the 2020 war, the complete takeover of Artsakh under Azerbaijan’s control.
