A senior Armenian lawmaker has cautioned that declarations of peace from Washington do not signify the end of regional conflict but rather mark the start of a new phase of instability. Armen Gevorgyan, speaking at the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), argued that his country is once again being forced to accept a geopolitical agenda dictated by external powers.
Gevorgyan stated that efforts to mitigate risks from one direction, while ignoring other deep-rooted regional interests, are creating new lines of confrontation rather than stability. He challenged the assembly to question why this so-called “new era of peace” has failed to secure the release of Armenian prisoners held in Baku, open the Armenian-Turkish border, or lead to the withdrawal of Azerbaijani forces from Armenian territories.
The MP pointed to recent demands from Baku for constitutional changes in Armenia and the establishment of a so-called “Zangezur corridor” as evidence of ongoing pressure. He questioned the logic where regional leaders can demand the return of populations to Armenia and Georgia while simultaneously rejecting the same right for the Armenians of Karabakh.
“Peace is not merely the absence of war but a system of security,” Gevorgyan asserted, warning that Europe’s desire for “reconciliation success stories” should not come at the cost of ignoring realities on the ground. He emphasized that Armenia’s peace model cannot be “sterile” and must not require the country to sever its existing alliances and capabilities.
Citing the international community’s inability to stop conflicts in Ukraine and Gaza, as well as its failure to prevent the ethnic cleansing of Karabakh Armenians, the lawmaker argued that nations like Armenia cannot afford to base their security on false choices or hope alone. He called for help in strengthening Armenia’s security architecture, concluding with a stark warning: “Artificial peace is a delayed war.”
