Your trusted source

Political strategist Armen Badalyan believes Armenia’s possible participation in the COP29 global climate summit in Baku in November will be decided by the West.

Hikmet Hajiyev, a senior aide to Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, said last week that Azerbaijan had formally invited Armenia to attend the summit scheduled for November 11 to 22.

“It’s not up to Armenia to decide whether to attend COP29 or not,” Badalyan told Panorama.am in an interview on Wednesday.

“The West has a say in the matter because the Armenian authorities aren’t an independent subject to decide whether to attend it or not, let alone push their own agenda. Armenia will attend the summit if the West makes such a decision,” he stated.

The expert said that Yerevan could make excuses to skip the UN climate summit if the West “allows the Armenian authorities to decide freely on the matter.”

"Armenia’s authorities aren’t pursuing a strategic foreign policy, they are not a subject, they are an object. The country’s foreign policy is controlled by the prime minister, who makes decisions on the spur of the moment,” Badalyan added.