“That problem is not Armenia’s problem,” he told reporters. “That’s the EEU’s problem because it means in effect that the Eurasian Economic Union is paralyzed and not working. And if this problem is not resolved quickly, let me predict that it will be the beginning of the EEU’s end.”
Pashinian similarly said in late June that Russia and the three other EEU member states must clarify whether the Russian-led trade bloc “exists or not.” The Russian Foreign Ministry dismissed that statement as “demagoguery.” It said Armenia can no longer combine its membership in the EEU with its pursuit of accession to the European Union.
Putin is understood to have reaffirmed that position when he spoke with Pashinian by phone on Monday. According to the Kremlin, he insisted that Yerevan hold “as soon as possible” a referendum on joining the EU.
Pashinian reiterated on Wednesday that the referendum cannot take place before the Armenian government formally applies for EU membership. He again declined to say when it could make a membership bid.
Pashinian also indicated that Yerevan will not change its European integration policy despite the Russian embargo on multimillion-dollar imports of Armenian agricultural products and mineral water.
“Armenia must always have alternatives on all issues, and the era of having no alternatives is over,” he said.
He made clear at the same time that he still has no plans to pull Armenia out of the Eurasian Union, which gives Armenian exporters tariff-free access to Russia, their main market.
The Armenian premier stressed earlier that the South Caucasus country cannot be kicked out of the EEU against its will. Putin and the presidents of Belarus, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan implicitly threatened to do just that in a joint statement issued in late May. They instructed their prime ministers to present “possible consequences” of such a scenario at an EEU summit planned for December.
Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) claimed on Tuesday that Armenia’s exit from the EEU would plunge the country into a “deep economic crisis” and destabilize its government.
Moscow has threatened to take other punitive measures against Yerevan such as a sharp rise in the price of Russian natural gas supplied to Armenia, curbs on Russian tourists visiting the country and tougher requirements for hundreds of thousands of Armenian migrant workers in Russia.