Was the Pashinyan-Blinken-Von der Leyen meeting on April 5 a failure or a "historical turning point"? Levon Zurabyan

ANC (Armenian National Congress) Vice President Levon Zurabyan writes on his Facebook page: "On July 9, 2021, the European Union announced that it is ready to provide €2.6 billion ($3.1 billion) in aid to Armenia over the next five years.

On April 5, during the Pashinyan-Blinken-Von der Leyen meeting, it was revealed that three years after that decision, the European Union and the United States of America together promise to provide Armenia with €270 million and $65 million, respectively, for a total of approximately $360 million in aid over four years. 

Therefore, not only did they fail to fulfill the previously given promises, but also they reduced the amount of the promise by more than 10 times.

The issue becomes more interesting in the light of the assertion of Pashinyan's team and its "pro-Western" supporters that since 1991, Armenia has adopted a "wrong orientation" and therefore has not received proper support from the West.

The point is that in the nineties, during Ter-Petrosyan's administration, Armenia received direct government aid from the United States of America and mediated through the World Bank. In 1992: $75 million and $22 million respectively, in 1993: $172 million and $110 million, in 1994: $160 million and $191 million, in 1995: $115 million and $217 million, in 1996: $135 million and $292 million, in 1997 - $99 million and $166 million, which, in addition to the €49 million aid received by the European Union under the TACIS program, totals $1.8 billion.

In order to compare the aid given to Armenia in the nineties with the promise made in 2024, it should be taken into account that the strength of the American dollar in 1993-1997 was equal to 2 American dollars today. In other words, even if the announced promises come true, Arumutk will provide Armenia with the equivalent of $180 million in aid during the next four years.

What happens? Having adopted a "wrong orientation" in 1991 (actually pursuing a balanced policy with the West and Russia), Armenia has received 10 times more support from the West in five years than what the West is only promising to give in eight years (from 2021). up). Now, is this a failure for us or an unprecedented, historic turn? I think the answer is obvious.

By the way, this is not a criticism of the West. The West does what it can and deems appropriate. We just have to very soberly assess the capabilities and willingness of the West to help us.

This is a criticism of the Pashinyan government and the self-forgetting "lying pro-Westerners" who support it, who deceive our people in order to cover up their own failures and solely for personal gain, and promise golden mountains of a bright future to the West in the event of a "historical turn".

And this is the only correct political approach. For what the Russians and the West have done to Armenia, we should only blame the policy conducted by our authorities, as it was done in the nineties. It is the only rational approach that ensured success in the past, because it did not leave any opportunity for a false excuse for the government and it should not leave it now."