Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan commended the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU) during his leadership of a summit in Moscow, where leaders from five former Soviet states, constituting the Russian-led trade bloc, convened.
He emphasized the significance of the meeting coinciding with the ten-year anniversary of the EEU’s founding treaty signed in Astana on May 29, 2014. Pashinyan highlighted the EEU’s role as a pivotal platform for robust economic collaboration among member states, crucial for their respective economies.
Expressing Armenia’s steadfast commitment to the foundational principles of the EEU Treaty, Pashinyan underscored the country’s readiness for active engagement with all member states to foster the continued advancement of their shared economic cooperation agenda.
Russian President Vladimir Putin echoed Pashinyan’s sentiments, asserting that all EEU countries have experienced tangible benefits from their membership in the union. He pointed to the substantial growth in the combined GDP of EEU states over the past decade, indicating a rise from $1.6 trillion to $2.5 trillion according to available estimates.
Pashinyan’s participation in the summit unfolded against the backdrop of heightened tensions between Armenia and Russia, leading to Armenia’s decision to suspend its membership in another Russian-led bloc, the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO). Discussions regarding these tensions were slated for a subsequent meeting between Pashinyan and Putin on the same day.
Despite these tensions, Armenia has maintained a cautious approach, refraining from distancing itself from the EEU. This stance reflects Armenia’s recognition of its heavy reliance on Russia’s expansive market and relatively affordable natural gas, with Russia accounting for over 35 percent of Armenia’s foreign trade and more than 40 percent of its exports last year. Notably, Armenian-Russian trade has surged following the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, with Armenian businesses leveraging Western sanctions against Moscow to re-export Western-manufactured goods to Russia.
