The sole purpose of sending humanitarian aid to Ukraine is
to give rise to loud statements, and not to render assistance. Political
scientist Karen Bekaryan said this to ABC Media.
According to him, there is a real difference between just
sending humanitarian aid and sending humanitarian aid from Armenia to Ukraine
in the current situation.
“How can this difference be explained? If this humanitarian
aid had been sent a few months ago — let us say three months ago — it could be
perceived as humanitarian aid.
Then, the explanation would be simple and clear.
There are a number of questions in this regard, namely Ukraine’s position
during the first Artsakh war, during the April and 44-day wars. However, we are
drawing a line between the state and the authorities, as the people of Ukraine
are in a bad situation now. Thus, sending humanitarian aid would not have
prompted serious criticism,” Bekaryan said.
According to him, the situation has changed and sending
humanitarian aid now cannot be justified on these grounds. It is not a proper
thing to do.
Referring to Russian Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Maria
Zakharova’s response to Pashinyan and Alen Simonyan, Bekaryan said that it
attests to the rather poor relationships between Armenia and Russia.
“Many a time we have discussed how these relationships
deteriorated this way. Such things do not happen in one day. These difficulties
in relationships have resulted from years of certain politics or
“non-politics”.
We are talking about our strategic partner and ally. In
fact, we are now facing such regional threats and challenges that placing
ourselves in such a situation is adventurism, to put it mildly,” he said.
Bekaryan noted that, being an Armenian citizen, he finds it
insulting to hear that an official from another country uses such wording with
regard to the officials in the driving seat of his country.
“It is my internal problem that these very people came to
power. However, external signals are a shame,” Bekaryan said.
According to him, no matter what is done or said, the
Russian officials should not forget that the Armenian-Russian friendship is not
between Alen Simonyan and the Duma or the Federation Council, but between the
two nations.
“The actions of these authorities — what they have done and
what they will still do — is appalling. However, it cannot affect the
friendship between Armenia and Russia.
Moreover, there is a barrage of questions regarding Russia’s
obligations, namely the suspension of the corridor’s operations, Azerbaijani
occupation of new territories after the war, Azerbaijan’s current behavior and
the encroachments on the sovereign territory of Armenia,” Bekaryan said.
