Putin targets Armenia over EU membership

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday warned Armenia, which aspires to join the European Union, that it won’t be able to be part of both the EU and a Moscow-led economic alliance.

Armenia, which signed a US-brokered agreement last year ending decades of hostilities with Azerbaijan, has increasingly sought to forge closer ties with the US and the EU. Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has declared an intention to join the EU, and his Government has suspended the country’s participation in a Moscow-dominated security pact, the Collective Security Treaty Organisation.

Speaking at the start of talks with Pashinyan in Moscow, Putin said Russia is “absolutely calm” about Armenia’s efforts to forge closer ties with the EU, but he noted that for Armenia, “it’s impossible to be in a customs union with the EU and the Eurasian Economic Union.”  The Russia-led Eurasian Economic Union, created in 2015 and also including Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan, is a single market allowing the free movement of goods, capital, and labour. Putin’s statement appeared to send a warning signal as prospects for Armenia’s EU membership look distant and no prospective tariff-free deal between Armenia and the EU has been discussed yet.

The Russian leader noted that the two blocs have widely different market regulations regarding various groups of goods and that reaching common ground is unlikely any time soon. He said it’s up to Armenia to set its course, but he emphasised that the country is currently getting Russian natural gas at a much lower price compared to the European prices.

Pashinyan, in turn, said he realises that Armenia can’t simultaneously be a member of both blocs, but for now it can combine its membership in the Eurasian Economic Union with developing cooperation with the EU.

“Ties with Russia are very deep and important for us,” he added.

Armenia’s relations with its longtime sponsor and ally, Russia, have grown increasingly strained after Azerbaijan fully reclaimed the Karabakh region in 2023, ending decades of ethnic Armenian separatists’ rule there.

Armenian authorities accused Russian peacekeepers who were deployed to the region of failing to stop Azerbaijan’s onslaught. Moscow, busy with the conflict in Ukraine, has rejected the accusations, arguing that its troops didn’t have a mandate to intervene.

Putin argued Wednesday that Pashinyan’s decision in 2022 to recognise that Karabakh was part of Azerbaijan made it impossible for Moscow to intervene. He noted that a US-mediated peace deal signed last year between Armenia and Azerbaijan and a prospective transport corridor promoted by US President Donald Trump opened up new prospects for regional cooperation.

Putin also voiced hope that pro-Russia forces will be allowed to freely compete in Armenia’s parliamentary elections set for June, noting that some of their representatives have been put in custody — an apparent reference to Russian-Armenian billionaire Samvel Karapetyan, a critic of Pashinyan who was arrested last year after calling for the ouster of the government.

Pashinyan, who has been in office since 2018, responded that Armenian law bans holders of Russian passports from taking part in elections.