Pashinyan accused of trading sovereignty for Western backing

Armenian opposition politician Levon Zurabyan on Thursday accused Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan of drawing Armenia into a dangerous geopolitical confrontation between the West, Russia and Iran in exchange for political support from Washington.

Writing on social media on Thursday, Zurabyan, the prime ministerial candidate of the Armenian National Congress in the June elections, alleged that U.S. backing for Pashinyan was motivated not by democratic values but by strategic and economic interests tied to energy transit routes stretching from Central Asia to the United States.

Citing U.S. President Donald Trump's remarks, Zurabyan said Washington’s support for Pashinyan was intended to ensure that “our wonderful American energy companies gain access from Central Asia all the way to the United States.”

He argued that such support amounted to “open interference” in Armenia’s democratic processes and claimed that external powers were attempting to impose a compliant leadership on the Armenian people in pursuit of geopolitical influence and commercial gain.

“Pashinyan has effectively entered into a bargain,” Zurabyan said. “He is constructing the TRIPP, pulling Armenia into the geopolitical conflict between the West on one side and Russia and Iran on the other.”

Zurabyan warned that Armenia risked becoming “trampled underfoot” amid escalating global rivalries while receiving what he described as anti-democratic support for an increasingly authoritarian government.

He further claimed that Armenia could ultimately be reduced to a “raw-material appendage” of the global economy, with Azerbaijan emerging as the dominant regional beneficiary at the expense of Armenian sovereignty and national identity.

Presenting an alternative foreign-policy vision, Zurabyan advocated what he called “Armenia’s Rational Path,” a strategy aimed at avoiding dependence on any geopolitical bloc, including Russia.

He proposed a framework based on balancing the interests of both Western powers and BRICS nations, arguing that such an approach would provide Armenia with sustainable peace, economic development and strategic autonomy.

The Armenian government has not publicly responded to Zurabyan’s remarks.