Senior Armenian and Russian officials held a phone call Friday to discuss the stagnant normalization process between Armenia and Turkey, signaling a cautious thaw in the once-frosty relationship between Yerevan and Moscow.
According to a statement from Russia’s Foreign Ministry, Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Galuzin spoke with Armenian Deputy Parliament Speaker Ruben Rubinyan—Yerevan’s point man in the talks with Ankara. Rubinyan reportedly briefed Galuzin on the latest developments, though “developments” may be generous given the current pace of the process.
Moscow, for its part, reiterated its eagerness to help move things along. “The Russian side confirmed its readiness to continue to facilitate the search for common ground between Yerevan and Ankara,” the statement said, casting improved Armenian-Turkish relations as a key ingredient for “stability and sustainable development in the South Caucasus.”
The Armenian parliament’s press office offered a far more clipped version of the call, stating simply that Rubinyan and Galuzin discussed bilateral relations and “regional developments.”
The conversation comes on the heels of Rubinyan’s recent meeting with Turkish envoy Serdar Kılıç at an international forum in Antalya, where Foreign Ministers Hakan Fidan and Ararat Mirzoyan also held separate talks. Despite the optics, no new agreements or concrete steps have emerged, and the core problem remains unchanged: Ankara continues to condition normalization on further Armenian concessions to Azerbaijan.
Rubinyan himself admitted earlier this week that Turkey is dragging its feet on implementing even existing agreements—such as the 2022 deal to open the border to third-country nationals. That agreement, hailed at the time as a breakthrough, remains stuck in political limbo after four rounds of high-level talks that began in Moscow over two years ago.
The renewed Armenian-Russian contact marks a notable shift in tone from Yerevan. For much of the past year, Armenia dialed back diplomatic ties with Moscow, amid Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s westward pivot and growing discontent with Russia’s perceived inaction during the 2020 war and the fall of Artsakh.
Now, there are signs of quiet recalibration. Pashinyan is set to attend the May 9 Victory Day parade in Moscow—a symbolic gesture that contrasts with months of open estrangement. According to local media, the Prime Minister recently instructed government institutions, including parliament and the Foreign Ministry, to unfreeze contact with their Russian counterparts. The Kremlin welcomed the move.
Whether this signals a full strategic reset or simply tactical hedging remains to be seen. But with Turkish-Armenian normalization at a standstill, the messaging is clear: if progress is to be made in this region, old doors may need to be reopened—even if only halfway.
