Armenians feel anger toward their old ally Russia for not preventing Azerbaijan from taking control of Nagorno-Karabakh and some hope to forge closer ties with Europe. But the country's geopolitical situation leaves no easy answers for the future.
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00:00 As people go about their daily lives in the Armenian capital, there are very few obvious signs of the crisis.
00:07 But it's visible in places like this retail space, which is a collection point for food and clothes for the refugees.
00:14 In the photo studio here, we meet Emma Marashlyan.
00:18 She is a designer and business owner with deep connections to Nagorno-Karabakh.
00:23 For several years, she's been restoring traditional costumes from the region.
00:27 She says the war has touched everyone in Armenia.
00:32 We feel very vulnerable. We're in a very uncertain position. We don't know where we're heading.
00:39 For me, it's not progress, it's decay. I don't see any progress.
00:44 My worry is that the situation develops in a way that we cease to exist as an independent state, because that risk is there.
00:52 Marashlyan admits Armenia feels abandoned by its ally Russia, but says the country should really blame itself for the difficulties it now faces.
01:01 In another business, which combines a bookshop, wine shop and an event venue, we speak to Arno.
01:08 He returned to Armenia from Russia after the start of the war in Ukraine.
01:12 A lot of my friends and relatives here, they're saying actually the same thing about Armenian government.
01:19 You do whatever you want, but save the country.
01:23 So whatever is necessary to save the independent Armenia, it needs to be done.
01:28 So that's actually my position.
01:31 So if that means...
01:33 If that would mean going with Russia, yes, but for now it's actually not meaning that.
01:39 Armenia has strong cultural and economic ties with Russia, but many Armenians think that relations with Moscow became too one-sided.
01:48 Former journalist and filmmaker Tigran Hizmalan is the founder of the European Party of Armenia.
01:54 He supports the recent steps by the Armenian government to move away from the Kremlin.
01:59 Despite all the odds, Armenians still support their weak, discredited, broken government.
02:14 Because they regard it, we regard it as a lesser evil than Russian despotism.
02:22 He says Russia is using Azerbaijan as a proxy to punish Armenia for its shift towards Europe.
02:29 But other intellectuals disagree.
02:31 If any external actor comes to this region and wants to make a disruption of the balance of strategic interests in this region, it will be more dangerous.
02:53 As the debate continues, Armenia finds itself at a crossroads and under immense pressure.
02:59 The stakes could be as high as its existence as an independent state.