Armenia’s Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian has declared his dialogue with Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko as closed, reported the News.am news agency. The relations between the two politicians had deteriorated a few months ago. The Armenian Prime Minister said:
“With all respect, my dialogue with Lukashenko is over. I have nothing more to discuss with him.”
In May 2024, the Belarusian President visited Azerbaijan and spoke about his conversation with President Ilham Aliyev before the “Liberation War” (meaning the 2020 war in Nagorno-Karabakh). As a result of this conversation, the parties “came to the conclusion that it is possible to win the war”, said the Belarusian President and “it is very important to hold on to this victory”.
Subsequently, Pashinian stated that he knew “at least two countries” from the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO, whose members are Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan; Armenia’s membership is currently “frozen”), “that were involved in the preparation of the war against Yerevan”. Pashinian later demanded an apology from Lukashenko and declared that he would not visit Belarus as long as Lukashenko led the country. In December, the two politicians disagreed over the participation of Armenian representatives in a session of the Supreme Eurasian Economic Council in May in Minsk, because Pashinian insisted on a video format.
On January 26, Lukashenko accused the Armenian authorities of “insulting” him due to his support for Azerbaijan. He stated:
“God is with you, I have always supported common sense, I was for there being no war, for us not fighting each other.”
He added that he was a mediator between Yerevan and Baku, where Aliyev had offered economic cooperation and investments. Lukashenko said:
“Aliyev did not even have the goal of dragging Armenia into war.”
But Armenia had not accepted a dialogue. Lukashenko concluded:
“What has happened is the fault of the Armenian leadership. Only their fault.”
He also warned that Pashinian could “destroy” Armenia, as he was driving a wedge between Russia and the EU and “flirting” with the EU.
On January 26, presidential elections took place in Belarus, which Lukashenko won with over 86 percent of the vote. Pashinian did not congratulate him on his victory, while Aliyev already had. In a telephone conversation, the two politicians stated that Minsk and Baku were striving for the development of friendly relations.