“This does not exclude bilateral good relations with Russia and this is something we want to explain to our Russian partners,” he said.
Earlier this month, at a meeting between Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, the EU unveiled a. €270 million package Designed to help strengthen Economic freedom and flexibility Of the former Soviet republic. Russia currently has an effective monopoly on Armenia’s energy networks, railways, and imports of key goods such as grain.
While Russia has also maintained control of Armenia’s borders for the past three decades, relations have soured in recent years, with the Kremlin refusing to support the country in its long-running conflict with neighboring Azerbaijan. . Moscow deployed more than a thousand peacekeepers Breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh after a war in 2020, but its troops refused to intervene last September when Azerbaijani forces launched an offensive and flared up mass migration Of its 100,000 Armenian residents.
A few days before the attack, Pashinyan told Politico that the country could no longer rely on Russia for security and praised Western countries for helping bring about democratic reforms.
Armenia has now suspended its membership. Moscow-led CSTO military allianceInvited US troops to conduct joint exercises in the country, and relies on the EU’s civilian monitoring mission to prevent clashes with it Tense border with Azerbaijan, Meanwhile, it has stepped up efforts to deflect the impact of Western sanctions on Russia, working to block the export of sensitive goods that could be used by Moscow’s forces occupying Ukraine.
But, according to Balayan, the head of Armenia’s EU delegation, this should not be seen as “leaning toward the West” at the expense of Russia.
“When we’re talking about these issues with Russian diplomats, and I tell them what we’re doing, I never get any counterarguments as to why we shouldn’t be doing it – European and American investments in Armenia’s economy are Russian. How can interests be harmed,” he said.
Last month, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov took aim at Armenia’s growing ties with Europe and the US. accused The government is “deliberately leading to the deterioration of relations with the Russian Federation.”