Let them strengthen their own security instead of looking for someone to blame and shouting, “Why are you massacring us?” — Arbak Khachatryan

First Informational’s interlocutor is expert Arbak Khachatryan (Russia, Moscow).

— Mr. Khachatryan, what observations do you have about the sabotage infiltration that took place in Russia’s area of responsibility? Could this have happened without Russia’s knowledge?

— We cannot spend our whole lives looking for culprits, remain constantly defenseless, and place our hopes in some state. Our region, including Armenia, is under tremendous turbulence. Each of those three states has its own weakness, which larger players exploit. I am concerned about Armenia’s now-familiar tactic: I will do nothing; you come, support me, and ensure my security. The people cannot rise up because their values have been changed for 30 years. That is why casualties have already become routine. How long can we look for culprits? How long must the old blame the new and the new blame the old? To me, looking for culprits today is absurd.

— In any event, that zone has a security guarantor, a role Russia voluntarily took upon itself. Why is it not fulfilling its obligations today?

— Nobody has ever blamed or criticized Russia more than I have. Moreover, I did it even inside their KGB’s den. I have repeatedly said that our nation must stop being a slave to the Russians and establish its own security, because a time will come when the Russians join the Muslims. I have said more than once that such a policy would work against us.

Today, only Belarus remains beside Russia, for reasons known to everyone. Now, when the whole world is hitting Russia, our criticism has no value anymore. We should have thought in time and built our own security system. What will speaking against Russia give us now? You should have come out and spoken in 2013, and hanged the leaders who made such a decision. What is the point of looking for culprits now? The country’s leadership also stands up and says: we are not to blame; our predecessors handed us the state like this, and we cannot defend ourselves.

— The question is not about looking for culprits, but about Russia’s openly pro-Azerbaijani policy; they do not hide that even in the media.

— Almost the entire nation elected Nikol Pashinyan, but he did not uphold our nation’s honor at the right time. For years, Russia was everything to him; with his own hands, he brought Russian peacekeepers here and stationed them. He traveled all the way to Vladivostok just to sit beside Putin and say: I am with you. Weren’t the consequences predictable? After that, you invite the leaders of those countries here and do not sign—for what purpose? He should have moved toward creating his own security policy, and then whether he attached himself to the Russians or someone else would no longer have mattered. After talking for so many years, you stand up and say: the Russians are bad; they do not ensure our security. What did you think? What was the other side supposed to do?

— And if they are not protecting us, what should he say?

— If you become the head of a state, you are responsible for your people’s security. When I said that the Russians would hand us over, nobody listened; shouting now, “Why did you hand us over?” is naïve. It is you who are handing them over. You cannot want peace with such an enemy state just so that your name is mentioned in international forums and they say: look how good he is. I would very much like NATO troops to come and protect us, but what do you think—will they do it? Can you imagine Russia supplying powerful weapons to Cuba and Venezuela now and saying: fight America? What would the other countries do to Russia? There are regions that Russia considered its security zone; our country is in that zone too. I fought against that for 20 years. They should have used those years for Armenia’s benefit. Instead, they are going around looking for culprits, asking why we are being killed.