Nikol Pashinyan’s calls with foreign leaders during his tenure

In February 2019, we provided a brief summary of the telephone calls that Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan had with the leaders of other countries. In particular, from May 8, 2018, when he assumed the post of Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia, until February 8, 2019, when our article was published, Pashinyan had one telephone conversation with the leaders of Canada, Iran, Georgia, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan and Belarus , and five telephone conversations with the President of Russia, about which official press releases were issued, as well as two telephone conversations, about which the Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia informed personally. Thus, we had concluded that Pashinyan mostly communicates with Eurasian colleagues through telephone conversations.

In this article, we will refer to Nikol Pashinyan’s phone conversations after February 2019 and will try to understand whether their geography has changed. Here, perhaps, it will be necessary to make a special reservation regarding the telephone calls made during the war unleashed by Azerbaijan on September 27, 2020, because, according to Nikol Pashinyan and according to Russian President Vladimir Putin, intensive daily telephone discussions took place during the 44 days of the war, and there were no separate press releases for them.

2019 – Normal life

According to the official website of the Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia, Nikol Pashinyan had telephone conversations with the leaders of Russia (5), Kazakhstan (3), Georgia (2), Lebanon (1), Turkmenistan (1), Belarus (1), Kyrgyzstan (1), Iran (1) and France (1) in February 2019 and the following months.

In addition to the above-mentioned phone calls, Nikol Pashinyan also had telephone conversations with Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev (twice), and Nursultan Nazarbayev (as the first president of Kazakhstan and honorary chairman of the Supreme Eurasian Economic Council). Pashinyan also had telephone conversations with the President of Artsakh Bako Sahakyan (twice), and the Secretary General of the Council of Europe Thorbjorn Jagland and Catholicos Aram I.

2020 – COVID-19

When referring to the official telephone communication of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan during 2020, it should be borne in mind that since April-May, international meetings were increasingly held in the online format, via video conferences. In our article, however, we will count only the so-called traditional telephone conversations, not including the above-mentioned video conferences. Besides, in this part of the article we will refer to Pashinyan’s telephone communication until September 27, that is, before the beginning of the war.

In particular, during the mentioned period (January to September 27, 2020), Nikol Pashinyan had telephone conversations with the leaders of Russia (2), Belarus (2), Georgia (1), Iran (1), Kyrgyzstan (1) and Lebanon (1).

In addition, the Prime Minister had telephone conversations with the President of the Council of Europe Charles Michel, the Director General of the World Health Organization Tedros Ghebreyesus, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and the Prime Minister of Russia Mikhail Mishustin.

2020 – War

On September 27, 2020, Azerbaijan launched an offensive against Artsakh, thus starting the 44-day bloody war.

From the very first day of the war, the telephone communication of the Prime Minister of Armenia with the leaders of other countries became more active. Here, we should perhaps note that according to statements, there were many telephone conversations during this war, about which there were no separate press releases, especially those with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Thus, according to the official website of the Prime Minister of Armenia, during the war, Nikol Pashinyan had telephone conversations with the leaders of Russia (5), France (3), Germany (3), Iran (1), Belarus (1), Austria (1), the Netherlands (1) and Canada (1).

Besides, according to the official website of the Prime Minister, Nikol Pashinyan had telephone conversations with Advisor to US President Robert O’Brien (twice), US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres and Charles Michel during the 44 days of the war.

Aftermath of the war

The war unleashed by Azerbaijan against Artsakh on September 27 ended with the Armenia-Russia-Azerbaijan trilateral statement signed on November 9. In the period following the end of the war, and until the time of writing this article, Nikol Pashinyan had telephone conversations with the leaders of France (3), Russia (1) and Georgia (1)․

Besides, during the same period, according to the Prime Minister’s official website, Pashinyan had two telephone conversations with the Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin and one telephone conversation with the Secretary General of the Organization of La Francophonie Louise Mushikiwabo.

Thus, we can state that Nikol Pashinyan continues to have more frequent telephone conversations with Eurasian counterparts, although during and after the war he also had active telephone contacts with European leaders, especially the President of France Emmanuel Macron.

Vahe Ghukasyan

Union of Informed Citizens