Russia has warned the Armenian government of severe economic consequences if it pursued plans to move towards membership of the European Union. Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexei Overchuk insisted on Wednesday that the EU accession process will mark the beginning of Armenia’s withdrawal from the Eurasian Economic (EEU), a Russian-led trade bloc that gives Armenia tariff-free access to Russia’s vast market. “The outcome here is obvious: opening markets with the European Union will mean closing markets with the Eurasian Economic Union,” Russian news agencies quoted him as telling journalists.
“The Armenian side know full well that the consequences will be like this. No one should have any illusions about this. People who claim in discussions going on in Armenia that some solution can be found are miseading, to put it mildly, the Armenian people,” added Overchuk. Overchuk had already pronounced himself in this direction on 9th January just hours after Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian’s government endorsed a bill calling for the “start of a process for Armenia's accession to the European Union.” Armenian officials responded by saying that Yerevan has no plans yet to leave the EEU.
Pashinyan telephoned Russian President Vladimir Putin on January 17 to discuss the matter and made clear afterwards that his administration was pressing ahead with its EU membership bid. The Armenian parliament controlled by Pashinyan’s Civil Contract party is scheduled to debate the bill in question in the next weeks.
According to Armenian government data, Russia accounted for over 41 percent of Armenia’s foreign trade in January-November 2024, compared with the EU’s 7.5 percent share. Armenia also buys the bulk of its natural gas from Russia at a price that is set well below international market-based levels.
“Trade with Russia last year was $12 billion, which is several times more than the volume of trade that Armenia has with the EU,” stressed Overchuk. “At the same time, trade with the EEU countries is growing while with the EU it is decreasing, which characterises the real state of affairs in the economy better than other words”, he added.