The Armenian Revolutionary Federation declared on Tuesday that agreements reached between Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, and U.S. President Donald Trump last month will not deliver “real peace.” The statement came as the party mobilized thousands of supporters in Yerevan to mark the 34th anniversary of the proclamation of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic and to demand justice for Artsakh’s displaced population.
The rally was held nearly two years after Azerbaijan’s 2023 offensive reasserted Baku’s full control over Artsakh, forcing more than 120,000 ethnic Armenians to flee. Speakers emphasized the right of Karabakh Armenians to return to their homeland—an issue the opposition says the government has deliberately abandoned.
Pashinyan has repeatedly signaled that the Artsakh question is “closed.” His August 8 talks with Aliyev in Washington, hosted by Trump, produced a draft peace treaty that omits any reference to the rights of Artsakh’s former population. Days later, on August 18, he openly urged refugees to “settle down in Armenia” rather than wait for repatriation.
Artsakh’s exiled parliament, however, rejected this stance. In a statement read aloud at the rally and endorsed by the ARF along with other opposition parties, it insisted that the government must fight for “the return of the people of Artsakh to their homeland” under conditions of safety, freedom, and dignity.
ARF leader Armen Rustamyan sharply criticized the Washington process, warning that it only deepens Armenia’s vulnerability. He said Pashinyan’s commitments—including opening a U.S.-administered transit corridor for Azerbaijan—were unilateral concessions that failed to secure any guarantees against future attacks.
“Yes, the three participants of the Washington meeting got what they wanted,” Rustamyan told the crowd in Liberty Square. “Trump positioned himself for a Nobel Prize, Aliyev extracted more concessions, and Pashinyan got a ‘paper peace’ he desperately needs ahead of elections. But our people cannot afford to fall for illusions again.”
Rustamyan concluded by urging Armenians to resist “false promises of peace” and prevent the current government from using them to secure victory in the 2026 elections.
