Radar Armenia's interlocutor is Anahit Adamyan, a member of the political council of the "Republic" party.
-How would you assess the threat of new sanctions against Russia by the US? Has this mechanism been effective in the past?
-Russia started the war with one goal: to stage a coup in Kyiv and bring its protégé to power, so that over time, Ukraine and Belarus will have the same status. Russia's conditions for peace testify to this. It is sad, but the war against Ukraine cannot be prevented with sanctions.
-Donald Trump notes that he had "great conversations" with Putin, but they did not lead to a ceasefire. What can we conclude from this?
-The US president has also recorded his deep disappointment. He is probably the last person in the world who still believes in the possible end of the war through talks with Putin. Putin does not need to stop the war, no matter how many victims there are on both sides. First, Moscow is throwing Russian citizens into the meat grinder of war, signing contracts with prisoners and releasing prisoners, relying on North Koreans and Africans. It is not announcing a mobilization and is dodging the wave of protests in the country over the senseless murder. Second, the Russian propaganda machine presents the killing of Slavs by Slavs as ... a patriotic war. It is Russia that declares that there is no state of Ukraine, that Lenin invented, that there is no Ukrainian nation, and that the struggle of Ukrainians is for identity. A country with no population in most of its vast territories does not need new territories, even considering its natural resources. At the beginning of the war, the primary objective was to capture Odessa. Now, Russia is setting a condition that it will not leave the occupied territories; moreover, it wants what it has not captured. It says that Ukraine has no right to join either NATO or the EU, nor can it maintain its army... Even if these conditions are accepted, the Kremlin cannot sign a peace agreement with Volodymyr Zelensky, because he is "not legitimate." It is at least strange that the Russian president considers himself legitimate, while Zelensky, who was elected through democratic elections, does not. In this situation, Donald Trump can have "great conversations" until the end of his term, but the next day, Vladimir Putin will target civilians…
-According to Trump's new statement, if the Russians do not make a deal with the Ukrainians, the Americans will also impose sanctions against countries that buy Russian oil. What impact could possible US sanctions have, given the dependence of our economy on Russia?
-It is possible to talk about the impact when sanctions are imposed. However, this is further evidence that the Armenian government has already wasted considerable time and no longer has the justification to delay eliminating the economy's dependence on Russian monopolies and diversifying the economy, not just in rhetoric, but in reality. Russia is not the only country in the world that has energy resources. The "Republic" party has been discussing the need to ensure Armenia's economic security since 2018, focusing on job creation and economic development as a means to establish a new level of sovereignty. We cannot be a developed country if our economy relies solely on the service sector, construction, and tourism. We need industry and balanced regional development. We have enormous opportunities in the mining industry. Changing the structure of the economy and the budget remains on the agenda. Only with new technologies and investments can we have the opportunity to export competitive goods. There must be laboratories in Armenia where the conformity of the quality of products to international standards will be determined. Standards will be issued quality certificates. This will also encourage manufacturers to improve the quality of their products. This should be a collaborative effort, involving steps from both the government and business. Suppose we continue the same stagnation within the framework of the EAEU and with Russian exports, or imports from Russia, without sanctions. In that case, our economy will exhaust itself, remaining constantly dependent on the Kremlin's economic restrictions... The problem is not only oil and possible sanctions; the state must also have a development program and perspective. The Armenian authorities are still guided by the slogan "the day will open, good will follow", ensuring the solution of daily problems in one way or another. This philosophy of stagnation does not provide peace, security, development, or new jobs; that is, we have neither political, nor military, nor economic, nor demographic security guarantees.
Lilit Abrahamyan
