Armenian Economy Minister says Yerevan has no plan to leave the EAEU

The Armenian government does not have the issue of withdrawal from the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) on its agenda. The republic's Economy Minister Gevorg Papoyan told reporters on January 13.

"Armenia is currently a member of the EAEU. And at the moment there is no issue of withdrawal from the EAEU on the Armenian government's agenda," the minister said, his words were broadcast by the website of Armenian TV channel 1Lurer.

Papoyan explained that the work on the country's membership in the European Union (EU) is a parallel agenda, and the government's task is not to discuss it, but to improve the sustainability and competitiveness of the country's economy. In this activity it doesn't matter where Armenia is included in the EU or EAEU, he specified.

Armenia's prospects of joining the EU are extremely weak. And here's why

Earlier, on January 9, the Armenian government approved a draft law on starting the process of the state's accession to the European Union.

On the same day, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexei Overchuk drew attention to the fact that Moscow perceives the beginning of consideration of such a bill by Yerevan as the start of the procedure of the Transcaucasian republic's exit from the EAEU.

At the same time, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov emphasized that it is hypothetically impossible to combine membership in the EU and the EAEU, as the two associations are significantly different from each other. He added that working in the EAEU brings Yerevan benefits.

European Commission (EC) spokesperson Anitta Hipper said on January 11 that the organization plans to consider Armenia's draft law on EU membership and discuss it with the authorities of the republic.

Back in April last year, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova drew attention to the fact that the West uses the republic only to "fuel the fire" in the Caucasus. In his turn, Armenian Ambassador to the EU Tigran Balayan pointed out that Yerevan's foreign policy turn towards rapprochement with the EU does not threaten Russia's interests in the Transcaucasus.