Armenian opposition leader accuses Pashinyan of destroying peace prospects

Armenia’s opposition Armenian National Congress (ANC) has accused Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan of undermining the country’s chances for peace ahead of the June 7 parliamentary elections.

ANC coordinator and prime ministerial candidate Levon Zurabyan told reporters on Friday that his party was entering the vote with the expectation of victory, positioning itself as the only political force capable of delivering “sovereign peace” to Armenia.

Zurabyan said peace was the central issue of the election but argued that Pashinyan’s government had misled the public by presenting temporary calm along the border and fuel imports via Azerbaijan as evidence of peace. “That is not peace,” he said, citing Baku’s refusal to sign a peace treaty, the continued detention of Armenian prisoners and Azerbaijani rhetoric about territorial claims on Zangezur and so-called ‘Western Azerbaijan’ narrative.

He dismissed Pashinyan’s campaign slogan as a “fraud”, accusing the prime minister of attempting to monopolize the peace narrative despite what Zurabyan described as a record of failure. “In 2021 they declared the start of a peace era, but the result was the fall of Artsakh and the occupation of Armenia’s sovereign territory,” he said.

Zurabyan further accused Pashinyan of rejecting a 2019 plan that could have secured peace, insisting that the ANC was the only party prepared to speak openly about the government’s mistakes. “After so many lies, they dare to present themselves as the party of peace. In reality, Pashinyan and his team are a proven party of war,” he said.