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Political analyst Arman Ghukasyan has blamed the Armenian government’s “reckless” policy for the fall of Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) and major challenges facing Armenia.

Speaking at a news conference in Yerevan on Saturday, he said Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan's administration increasingly turned to the West to resolve the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, which “evidently ran counter” to the interests of Armenia and Artsakh.

“At the same time, Pashinyan officially recognized Karabakh as part of Azerbaijan which nullified the November 9 trilateral agreement and significantly weakened Armenia’s position in the conflict settlement process, leaving Russia with no opportunity to somehow support the Nagorno-Karabakh Armenians in their struggle. Pashinyan downgraded the Karabakh’s struggle for a status to a matter of people’s security,” the analyst stated.

Ghukasyan warned against Armenia’s ratification of the Rome Statute, the founding treaty of the International Criminal Court (ICC) that issued an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin in March.

"Pashinyan and his government are preparing to ratify the so-called Rome Statute, which entails the arrest of the Russian president. Joint Armenian-American military exercises have been held, meanwhile Yerevan has been rejecting CSTO-hosted drills for a long time,” he said.

“The ratification of the Rome Statute will not give us anything but a breakdown in Armenian-Russian relations, it is a dangerous adventure. Moreover, it won’t help punish Azerbaijan claimed by the Armenian authorities. It will only pose new threats to us and create new problems with Russia. This adventurist policy is leading to a disaster.

"The anti-Russian policy is a tool for Pashinyan to hold on to power, negatively affecting the Armenian interests. Because of this policy, we have already lost Karabakh, while Armenia is facing major challenges," the political analyst added.