This Is Not Convenient for Yerevan: Russian Deputy Foreign Minister

Abandoning membership in the Eurasian Economic Union would not be beneficial for Armenia, as it contradicts Yerevan's interests. This was stated by Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Pankin in an interview with RIA Novosti.

As of January 1, the presidency of the EAEU shifted from Russia to Armenia. Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has noted that Armenia continues to develop cooperation within the framework of economic collaboration, aiming to prevent any attempts to politicize Eurasian integration.

Pankin asserted that cooperation within the EAEU has been effective for Armenia, which has become a leader in several indicators in recent years, including GDP growth, investments in fixed capital, and the volume of construction work carried out, among others.

“All of this has been greatly facilitated by the unified market within the union, the freedom of movement of labor resources, the simplicity of enterprise registration procedures, preferential conditions for the supply of energy resources, and more. Thus, from an economic perspective, it is certainly advantageous for Yerevan to remain a member of the union, and abandoning it, in our opinion, would contradict the country's interests,” the diplomat said.

Pankin added that the priorities expressed by Armenia’s Prime Minister align with the common approaches in the field of integration, and Russia is ready for effective cooperation.

In early February, Pashinyan announced during a meeting of the Eurasian Intergovernmental Council that Armenia's trade turnover with EAEU countries has increased by 39% compared to the previous year, amounting to around $7.8 billion.