What you need to know
- Armenia has strong economic ties to Moscow
- It argues Russia and allies failed to help Armenia in 2020 and 2023 wars with Azerbaijan
- Russia says Armenia can’t be both in the EU and the Russian-led Eurasian economic bloc
- Putin stressed that Russia’s conflict with Ukraine started over Kyiv seeking to join the EU
Russia said on Saturday it had recalled its ambassador to Yerevan over Armenia’s moves toward strengthening its ties to the European Union.
Armenia historically has strong economic, diplomatic and security ties to Moscow but its government has in recent years increasingly pivoted towards the West.
The Caucasian country held an Armenia-EU summit earlier in May, which Brussels hailed as a “leap forward” in ties.
Why did Russia recall its ambassador to Armenia?
Moscow said that Armenia’s rapprochement with Brussels could undermine its membership in a Russian-led economic bloc.
“The Russian ambassador to the Republic of Armenia, S. Kopyrkin, has been recalled to Moscow for consultations on steps taken by the Armenian leadership on a rapprochement with the European Union, undermining cooperation within Eurasian Economic Union,” the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
The Eurasian Economic Union (EEU) is a single market which, besides Armenia, is also made up of Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan.
Moscow has previously stressed that Armenia can’t be a member both of the EU and the EEU.
Putin cites ‘Ukrainian scenario’ in warning to Yerevan
The statement comes a day after Russian President Vladimir Putin tied the dispute with Armenia to what he called the “Ukrainian scenario,” saying that Moscow’s military confrontation with Kyiv began after Ukraine began to seek closer ties to the European Union.
During a EEU summit in Kazakhstan’s capital, Astana, on Friday, Putin also called for Armenia to hold a swift referendum on whether its citizens wish to remain in the Moscow-led bloc or instead go ahead with advancing EU accession talks.
At the same summit, the Eurasian bloc’s leaders warned that Armenia’s plans to apply for EU candidacy posed “significant risks” for their economic security and ordered officials to prepare a report on the “possible consequences of suspending” Armenia’s membership in the EEU.
Russia has also warned Yerevan it could halt supplies of cheap Russian natural gas to Armenia and ban imports of Armenian brandy, fruit and vegetables, which Putin said could make Armenia lose at least 14% of its GDP.
Why is Armenia pivoting away from Russia?
Armenia began to pivot away from Moscow after it was defeated in 2020 and 2023 wars with Azerbaijan, which led to the effective dissolution of the breakaway republic of Nagorno-Karabakh.
The territory was within Azerbaijan’s internationally recognized borders but had been governed by Armenian separatists since a war in the 1990s, and the 2023 war led to the exile of the vast majority of its population, largely ethnic Armenians.
The wars were also accompanied by border skirmishes with Azerbaijan that affected internationally-recognized Armenian territory.
Yerevan froze its membership in the Russian-led Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) in 2024, saying that in not defending Armenia from Azerbaijan, member states effectively failed to honor mutual defense obligations.
While Armenia has not formally applied for EU candidacy yet, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s government has declared its intention to make a membership bid.
Armenia has also agreed to a US-brokered peace deal to normalize its relations with Azerbaijan and establish an economic transit corridor that would allow Baku to connect to its exclave of Nakhchivan.
Edited by: Srinivas Mazumdaru
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