Not Rubio in a hurry: Russia is ready to resume parliamentary contacts with Armenia
To win the parliamentary elections on June 7, Nikol Pashinyan wants to enlist the support of the West. Following the EU leaders, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio flew to Yerevan for the first time in more than 10 years and signed three key agreements with the republic. Washington is seeking to increase its influence in the South Caucasus as relations between Moscow and Yerevan cool down. Due to the meeting with Rubio, Pashinyan will miss the EAEU summit in Astana. Armenia has also frozen its participation in the CSTO. In addition, bilateral contacts through the parliament have been curtailed, the State Duma told Izvestia. But Moscow is ready for their resumption.
What documents did Rubio sign in Yerevan?
Armenia's turn to the West, which has been much discussed in the press, is gaining momentum. For the first time in more than 10 years, the US Secretary of State arrived in Yerevan on May 26. For Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, this meeting with Marco Rubio became so important that for the sake of it, he defiantly refused to travel to Astana, where the summit of the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) with the participation of Russia will start in a couple of days. Deputy Prime Minister Mher Grigoryan will speak on behalf of Armenia at the forum in Astana.
Rubio signed three documents with Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan. First, the charter on strategic cooperation. It involves strengthening defense cooperation, including the sale of American military products and auxiliary equipment to Yerevan under the Foreign Military Sales program. Secondly, an agreement on the extraction of rare earth metals and valuable minerals. And finally, the agreement on strategic cooperation in the project "The Trump Way for International Prosperity" (TRIPP). After that, Mirzoyan called the current stage of Armenian-American relations historically unprecedented.
Obviously, the TRIPP project has become the main one for Yerevan. Last August, Armenia, Azerbaijan and the United States agreed to jointly unblock transport communications in the South Caucasus, and in January 2026, the first documents were signed. The most important task of the route is to connect Azerbaijan with its exclave, the Nakhichevan Autonomous Republic, through the Syunik region of Armenia.
Nikol Pashinyan has repeatedly assured that this is the most promising investment project for the republic, which will not only further strengthen peace in the region, but also turn it into an important hub of the Crossroads of the World transport network. It should open all borders of the countries in the South Caucasus, and Yerevan will connect all traffic flows.
Interestingly, solutions for unblocking transport communications in the South Caucasus were initially developed by Armenia and Azerbaijan jointly with Russia. According to the 2020 trilateral statement, Moscow was supposed to control the safety of these routes, but after the cooling of relations between Russia and Armenia, the United States took over the initiative in this matter.
At the end of 2025, Russian Ambassador to Yerevan Sergey Kopyrkin noted that the TRIPP project could affect Armenia's membership in the EAEU, since the passage of goods through the republic is regulated, among other things, by the norms of this association.
At the same time, Mikhail Kalugin, director of the fourth CIS Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said earlier that Moscow was ready to discuss participation in the Trump's Route project with Yerevan. He stressed that the route will pass through the area of responsibility of the Russian border guards, and the railway lines in Armenia are under the concession management of the Russian Railways structure, the South Caucasus Railway.
Rubio's visit should be considered as part of the American support for Pashinyan before the elections, the head of the Analytical Center for Strategic Studies and Initiatives (ACSI) explained to Izvestia Hayk Khalatyan. On the eve of the June 7 parliamentary elections, which will decide Pashinyan's political fate, Yerevan is defiantly turning towards the West.
— The visit will have a certain impact on their results, given that pro-Western information resources will actively promote this, especially against the background of the concluded summit of the European Political Community on May 4-5. They will try to show that Pashinyan has the support of the West in the face of the United States and the EU, but time will tell how much this will affect the result," the expert said.
Following the results of the European tour to Yerevan, Brussels agreed to allocate large grants and soft loans for the modernization of the road infrastructure and digitalization of logistics systems in Armenia. In addition, it was announced that a large-scale Action Plan for visa liberalization is at the finish line, and Pashinyan clarified that it is possible to wait for visa-free travel between the EU and Armenia for two years.
Hayk Khalatyan stressed that all Armenians are in favor of unblocking communications, but this process should proceed on equal terms with Azerbaijan. In the case of the implementation of the "Trump Route", there is no confidence in equality and respect for the interests of Armenia, therefore, a significant part of the citizens of this country are not satisfied with this approach.
The crisis in relations between Moscow and Yerevan
Pashinyan's decision to choose negotiations with Marco Rubio instead of the EAEU summit was a clear signal to Moscow. Back at the May meeting with European politicians, he expressed several anti-Russian ideas, including a proposal to create an alternative to the CIS without the participation of the Russian Federation. Moreover, Vladimir Zelensky publicly spoke at the summit in Yerevan, calling for increased pressure on Moscow. The Kremlin was outraged that the Union of Armenia had become a platform for anti-Russian statements. "We would still expect some clarifications from Yerevan," said Dmitry Peskov, the press secretary of the Russian president.
Armenia has frozen its participation in the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) back in February 2024, although formally remains a member of the association. It seems that Yerevan has embarked on curtailing ties with Moscow along various lines. So, we have not had contact at the level of the country's parliament for two years, Viktor Vodolatsky, head of the parliamentary friendship group with Armenia, told Izvestia. The Armenian side took the initiative to break off contacts.
— Unfortunately, we are not working with the Armenian parliament. They do not guarantee the safety of our deputies who are under EU sanctions. As the head of the friendship group, I was sentenced by the Khmelnitsky court to a large number of years. Therefore, no one guarantees my safety on the territory of Armenia, as well as my colleagues," the MP said.
He added that Russian MPs communicate with former members of the Armenian parliament who come to the State Duma from time to time. He stressed that the State Duma is ready to resume contacts if the Armenian position changes. "We are open for dialogue, for friendly relations, for developing common approaches, and for preserving our cultural, economic, and social ties," Vodolatsky said.
Following the problems in political relations, the question of economic ties arises. At the last meeting with Vladimir Putin on April 1, Nikol Pashinyan stated: Yerevan understands that simultaneous membership in both the EAEU and the EU is incompatible, therefore, the Armenian people will make their choice in the future. Today, Armenia remains a member of the Eurasian Economic Union, but at a meeting on May 29, the participating countries will discuss Yerevan's desire to join the European Union and a possible exit from the EAEU, Presidential aide Yuri Ushakov said.
Experts believe that Armenia's withdrawal from the union will be disastrous for the country's economy. If in 2024 Yerevan's trade turnover with the EAEU amounted to $12.7 billion, then with the EU it was only about $2.3 billion. Russia remains an important supplier of cheap energy resources for Armenia and one of the key markets for its goods.
By the way, Moscow recently imposed a temporary ban on the import of flowers, Jermuk mineral water and products from several cognac factories from Armenia. Rospotrebnadzor and Rosselkhoznadzor stated that the restrictions were explained by sanitary violations. However, political analyst Andrei Suzdaltsev noted that these steps were taken against the background of the complication of political relations, including Zelensky's recent speech in Yerevan.
—We would like this to have a sobering effect on Yerevan, but it is likely to lead to increased anti—Russian rhetoric," the expert said.
The further development of relations between Russia and Armenia will depend on the results of the parliamentary elections on June 7, said Vadim Mukhanov, a leading researcher at the Center for Post-Soviet Studies at the Russian Academy of Sciences. According to him, if Pashinyan's Civil Contract party gets a majority, then we should expect a deterioration in relations between Moscow and Yerevan. According to a survey conducted by MPG/Gallup International Association, 28.8% of Armenians would vote for the Civil Contract party, 14.9% for the Strong Armenia bloc, 12.1% for the Armenia bloc, 8.7% for the Prosperous Armenia Party, and 5.8% for the Wings party. unity." It is the Armenia bloc that most zealously criticizes Pashinyan for the country's foreign policy course.
At the same time, it is worth noting that Moscow has never opposed Armenia's desire to join the European Union, pointing only to the need to make a choice between the EAEU and the EU. The current ruling elite of the republic is still trying to sit on two chairs, realizing that it will definitely not be able to join the European Union in the near future. However, after the rapprochement with the EU, Armenia may start flirting with NATO, which will create serious threats to security.
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