Russia’s 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 U.S.-brokered agreement last year ending decades of hostilities with Azerbaijan, has increasingly sought to forge closer ties with the U.S. 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 Organization.
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, capitals and labor.
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 that it’s up to Armenia to set its course, but he emphasized that the country is currently getting Russian natural gas at a much lower price compared to the European prices.
Pashinyan, in turn, said that he realizes 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.
Source : https://apnews.com/article/russia-armenia-putin-pashinyan-642f4d5863ab584e0dc1e9a894c8cd0b