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Armenia’s third President, Chairman of the Republican Party of Armenia (RPA), I’m Honored bloc member Serzh Sargsyan on Saturday revealed details of his phone call with then Armenian army chief Onik Gasparyan after the end of the war in Artsakh in 2020.

“It’s true, Onik Gasparyan called me after the war. During the conversation, of course, very harsh comments were made,” Sargsyan said at a meeting with voters in Yerevan’s Arabkir district during the campaign for the June 20 snap parliamentary elections.

His comments came in response to a question whether it was true that after the war, when Onik Gasparyan was on his way to Syunik and held a telephone conversation with Sargsyan, they both “cursed” Nikol Pashinyan.

Serzh Sargsyan said he does not even remember whether or not swear words were used during the talk.

“What else should we have done? To praise him for handing over half of our homeland and causing 5,000 casualties?” he said.

The former president described Onik Gasparyan as one of the best military men.

“I have known Onik Gasparyan for a long time. Wherever he worked, he performed his duties quite normally. But doesn't it seem ridiculous to you that his [Pashinyan’s] compatriot, who has received so many posts and titles from him, calls me and expresses his disagreement with a man who has declared himself a supreme commander?

“But it does not matter, the important thing, in my opinion, is what kind of relations they had during the hostilities. The result was that we went to a deliberate defeat. Now, during that time, did Onik Gaspayan fulfill his orders or did he make decisions on his own? This will be revealed when we carry out an investigation. And we will do it,” Sargsyan said.

“You know, when Onik Gasparyan called me, the conversation was as follows. He says, “I am in Syunik, the situation is difficult here”. I ask, “What does the difficult situation mean?” He says (not literally, but approximately), “It seems that we have to hand over more [territories].” I urged him not to discredit his rank of general, not to contribute in any way to making other decisions or taking actions that were not envisaged by the document signed by the capitulator.

“We surrendered 288 square kilometers on the basis of what the capitulator says was some kind of verbal agreement. If we had not handed over at least those territories, Syunik would be more or less secure now,” he said.