[3][4] On July 26, 2018 Kocharyan was charged in connection with the crackdown on the 2008 Armenian presidential election protests in the final weeks of his presidency, which resulted in the deaths of ten people.

[10] In January 1992, Kocharyan was a candidate for president of the Supreme Soviet of the NKR, but lost to Artur Mkrtchyan, a member of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation.

[11] In August 1992, Kocharyan became chairman of the State Defense Committee of the NKR, an extraordinary body which held all executive powers during the war.

[15] After his predecessor Levon Ter-Petrosyan was ousted as President, Kocharyan was elected Armenia's second President on 30 March 1998, defeating his main rival, Karen Demirchyan (who was a former leader of Soviet Armenia), in an early presidential election marred by irregularities and violations by both sides as reported by international electoral observers.

[16] Kocharyan was supported by Vazgen Sargsyan's Republican Party, as well as the banned Armenian Revolutionary Federation, which he relegalized early in his presidency.

[14] After their coalition won a majority of seats in parliamentary elections in May 1999, Vazgen Sargsyan took the office of prime minister while Karen Demirchyan became speaker of the parliament.

[3] On 27 October 1999, Vazgen Sargsyan and Karen Demirchyan were killed along with six other government officials by five gunmen in an episode known as the 1999 Armenian parliament shooting.

[18] Kocharyan's predecessor Levon Ter-Petrosyan repeatedly accused him and Serzh Sargsyan of being complicit in the 1999 shooting in his campaign speeches before the 2008 presidential election.

[3] In 2001 Kocharyan was attending a jazz performance at Poplavok cafe in Yerevan, and was greeted by former classmate Poghos Poghosyan with the words "Hi Rob".

The incumbent President Kocharyan, who was ineligible for a third consecutive term,[26] backed the candidacy of Prime Minister of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan.

[27] Following the election result, protests organized by supporters of unsuccessful candidate Levon Ter-Petrosyan began in Yerevan's Freedom Square and accompanied by mass disorders.

Kocharyan was generally in favor of achieving a "package deal" settlement of the conflict, whereby all issues, including the final status of Nagorno-Karabakh would be resolved in one agreement, rather than a "phased" settlement whereby Armenian forces would withdraw from the territories surrounding Nagorno-Karabakh in exchange for security guarantees while Karabakh's status would be left for future negotiations.

[35] During the weeks and days before the talks in France, OSCE Minsk Group co-chairmen expressed cautious optimism that some form of an agreement was possible.

Contrary to the initial optimism, the Rambouillet talks did not produce any agreement, with key issues such as the status of Nagorno-Karabakh and whether Armenian troops would withdraw from Kalbajar still being contentious.

The next session of the talks was held in March 2006 in Washington, D.C.[35] Russian President, Vladimir Putin applied pressure to both parties to settle the disputes.

"These talks did not initiate any progress, but I hope that the time for a solution will come" said Peter Semneby, EU envoy for the South Caucasus.

[37] In September 2006, in his congratulatory message[38] on the occasion of 15th anniversary of Nagorno-Karabakh Republic, Kocharyan said "The Karabakhi people made their historic choice, defended their national interests in the war that was forced upon them.

[47] In October 2020, Kocharyan and Ter-Petrosyan requested that Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan give them permission to go to Moscow as special negotiators.

[48] After the defeat of the Armenian side in the war and the signing of the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh ceasefire agreement, Kocharyan joined other ex-presidents and opposition politicians in calling for Nikol Pashinyan's resignation.

On 7 May 2021, Kocharian confirmed his intention to participate in the June 2021 snap parliamentary elections as part of a political alliance with the Armenian Revolutionary Federation and the Reborn Armenia party.

After the conclusion of the election, Kocharyan and the Armenia Alliance party contested the votes and demanded an investigation into claims of voter fraud.

[53] On February 21, 2022, Azerbaijan's Military Prosecutor's Office announced that former Armenian Presidents Robert Kocharyan and Serzh Sargsyan were placed on an international wanted list.

While Azerbaijani authorities view these actions as serious crimes against sovereignty and human rights, representatives of Kocharyan and Sargsyan have dismissed the charges as politically motivated.

[57] Robert Kocharyan has long supported Armenia's close ties with Russia and considers Vladimir Putin a friend and ally.