Putin Warns Armenia Against Joining EU

Armenia cannot be both a member of the European Union and the Russian-led Eurasian Economic Union, President Vladimir Putin told Armenia’s Prime Minister on Wednesday, amid tensions over Yerevan’s pivot towards the West.

“We see that Armenia is discussing developing relations with the European Union, and we are completely calm about this,” Putin said during a meeting at the Kremlin with Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan. “But it should be obvious… Being in a customs union with the European Union and the Eurasian Economic Union is impossible. It’s simply impossible by definition,” he added.

Moscow and Yerevan are formally allies but their ties have become increasingly strained under Pashinyan. The former Soviet republic froze its membership of the Russian-led CSTO security alliance in 2024, and in the same year expressed an interest in joining the European Union, further deepening its rift with Moscow. (AFP)