“Rosatom offers Armenia proven nuclear technologies across various power ranges, including high-, medium-, and low-capacity power units,” the corporation said in a statement on Alexei Likhachev’s meeting with Pashinian cited by the TASS news agency.
“As we see it, there should be at least one such unit with a capacity of at least 1,000 megawatts,” Likhachev told reporters after the meeting. He said the “concrete proposal” made by Rosatom is “the best currently available on the global market.”
According to an Armenian government readout of the talks, Likhachev “presented details regarding the construction of a new nuclear power plant as well as proposals and potential mechanisms for building small and medium-capacity power units” at Armenia’s Metsamor nuclear plant.
The design capacity of Metsamor’s sole functioning reactor, which generates roughly a third of Armenia’s electricity, is only 400 or so megawatts. The Soviet-built reactor’s life has been twice extended as a result of capital repairs mostly carried out by Rosatom specialists. It is now due to be decommissioned in 2036.
In Likhachev’s words, the Armenian government is now exploring the possibility of keeping the Metsamor reactor operational for another ten years, until 20246. The Rosatom chief questioned the economic wisdom of such a solution, saying that it would require hundreds of millions of dollars in investments that would make electricity generated by Metsamor far more expensive.
Pashinian’s government says it has been negotiating with various foreign countries and companies interested in replacing the plant with a modern facility equipped with small modular reactors (SMRs). Pashinian was reported to tell Likhachev that it is still weighing up the options proposed by them and will make a decision “soon.” He implied that the decision will not be affected by a continuing deterioration of Russian-Armenian relations.
“Nikol Pashinian emphasized that the final decision will be of an exclusively economic nature, taking into account price, quality, safety, timelines, and guarantees,” added the government statement.
U.S. Vice President JD Vance and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan sign a 'Joint Statement on the Completion of Negotiations on an Agreement for Peaceful Nuclear Cooperation between the United States of America and the Republic of Armenia', Yerevan, February 9, 2026.
In February this year, Pashinian and U.S. Vice President JD Vance finalized an agreement on U.S.-Armenian cooperation on nuclear energy.
“American technology is going to be coming to this country,” Vance announced at the time, fueling speculation that the Armenian government wants to rely on the United States in the possible implementation of its ambitious nuclear project.
Russian officials expressed concern at such a prospect in the following days, with Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov saying that Moscow is offering Yerevan better terms than Washington. Armenian leaders insisted afterwards that they have still not decided which foreign company should build the new nuclear facility.
Some Armenian opposition leaders and other critics of Pashinian claim that he is intent on ending Armenia’s reliance on nuclear energy under pressure from Azerbaijan and Turkey. Pashinian gave them more ammunition in late August with ambiguous remarks on the issue made in the Armenian parliament. In particular, he noted that the country’s former government had pledged to close the Metsamor plant.
The remarks followed Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev’s claim that the Soviet-built facility is “obsolete and poses a danger to the entire region.” Aliyev said Azerbaijan is ready to supply electricity to Armenia after its closure. In an apparent rebuff of Aliyev’s statement, the Russian Foreign Ministry insisted on August 22 that Metsamor is safe enough and vital for Armenia’s “sovereignty and energy security.”