Russia calls on Armenia to speed up decision on potential EU accession

Russia’s President Vladimir Putin said Moscow has “only one request” to Armenia — to hold a referendum on possible accession to the European Union as soon as possible.

“We only ask for this, especially since the prime minister [of Armenia Nikol] Pashinyan himself recently said that he considers it necessary to hold a referendum on this issue [of Armenia’s accession to the EU]. We have only one request — do this as quickly as possible,” Putin said during a meeting with heads of leading global news agencies organised by TASS.

Commenting on Armenia’s foreign policy direction, Putin said he sees nothing unusual in Yerevan’s current course.

“You know, there is nothing extraordinary here [in Yerevan’s course]. The political forces behind the current prime minister [of Armenia Nikol] Pashinyan have long been speaking about [a political orientation toward the West] and do not hesitate — they do it openly,” the Russian leader noted.

Putin also recalled that Russia had previously supported Armenia’s integration into a regional economic bloc at Yerevan’s request.

“As for Armenia — Russia insisted, at Armenia’s request, that it (Armenia — TASS note) be admitted to the EurAsEC (now the EAEU), bearing in mind that in a number of economic parameters Armenia did not quite fit into the overall picture,” Putin said at the same TASS-organised meeting.

By Tamilla Hasanova