Overchuk called Armenia's decision to launch EU accession the beginning of exit from the EAEU

Russia considers Armenia's decision to launch the process of the country's accession to the European Union (EU) as the beginning of its withdrawal from the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU). This was stated by Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexei Overchuk on January 15.

He described as a legally important step the decision of Armenia, which on January 9 supported the bill on announcing the start of the EU accession process.

"It was a decision of the Armenian government, and we consider it as the beginning of Armenia's exit from the EAEU," Overchuk told reporters.

In addition, the deputy prime minister pointed out that Armenia is the main beneficiary of EAEU membership, as indicated by the country's trade and economic growth in recent years.

According to Overchuk, Yerevan's trade with the European Union is many times smaller than with the EAEU. As he noted, Armenia's trade turnover with Russia is $11.6 billion, with the EAEU - about $12 billion, while trade with the EU is falling.

On January 9, the Armenian government approved at a session a draft law on starting the process of the state's accession to the European Union. The foreign minister of the Transcaucasian republic said at the time that relations between the country and the association have been developing "intensively and dynamically" in recent years. Mirzoyan noted that the EU has provided Yerevan with assistance, including in security aspects, and also expressed readiness to help the economic development of the state.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, commenting on the bill, pointed out that it is hypothetically impossible to combine membership in the EU and the EAEU, as the two associations have a large number of differences. He pointed out that interaction with the EAEU brings benefits to Yerevan.