The Kremlin reacts to Armenia's plans to join the European Union

Armenia is a member of the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU), which gives the country significant dividends. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on January 9.

"Being members of two different organizations, so hypothetically reasoning, is simply impossible. <...> It depends on what accents the Armenian side will have," he added.

According to Peskov, membership in the EAEU is certainly beneficial for Armenia.

"We know that it is the European Union that initiates membership processes, and here it is still necessary to understand what position the EU has on this issue," the Kremlin spokesman said.

He also recalled Turkey's intention to join the EU, which for many years "has not met with reciprocity from Brussels."

"Russia is committed to Armenia's security obligations"

Russian Ambassador to Yerevan Sergey Kopyrkin on the republic's participation in the CSTO, its trade prospects and the settlement of relations with Baku

Earlier in the day, the Armenian government approved a bill to start the process of the state's accession to the European Union at a meeting on January 9. Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan noted that the country's relations with the EU have been developing "intensively and dynamically" in recent years. According to him, the EU has provided Yerevan with assistance, particularly in the security sphere, as well as expressed readiness to help the economic development of the state.

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said on November 22, 2024 that the Armenian society is positively inclined towards rapprochement with the EU. Then he noted that there is no political logic to be against holding a referendum on EU membership.

In April, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova noted that the West assigns Armenia only the role of a tool for "fueling the fire" in the Caucasus. In his turn, Yerevan's Ambassador to the EU Tigran Balayan emphasized that the turn of the republic's foreign policy towards closer relations with the EU does not pose a threat to Russia's interests in the Transcaucasus.

Prior to that, in March, Armenian Deputy Foreign Minister Paruyr Hovhannisyan said that Yerevan is developing a new document on cooperation with the EU, which is planned to be signed in July. According to him, in case of full implementation of the agreement on comprehensive and expanded partnership between Armenia and the EU, the republic will have "the status of readiness of a candidate country for EU membership".