As was the case with other food products essentially banned by it late last month, the Russian agricultural watchdog Rosselkhoznadzor claimed that many of them do not meet phytosanitary requirements of the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU) because of what it called poor oversight by Armenian authorities.

The government agency said that the measure, effective from Tuesday, applies to grapes and stone fruits such as apricots, cherries and peaches. It comes just before the start of apricot and cherry harvesting period in Armenia. Russia has long been a key market for these crops grown by tens of thousands of Armenian farmers.

Many others grow vegetables that have also been exported to Russia in large quantities for many years. Rosselkhoznadzor blocked their imports late week, saying that it has found dangerous “quarantined objects” in many Armenian tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers and greens. Imports of Armenian cut flowers and mineral water were halted earlier in May.

The punitive measures highlight a further deterioration of Russian-Armenian relations that followed the holding of two European summits in Yerevan in early May. Moscow has since been pressuring the Armenian government to choose between continuing to seek membership of the European Union and remaining part of the EEU, a Russian-led trade that guarantees Armenian exporters’ tariff-free access to the Russian market.

On Friday, EEU member Belarus, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan joined Russia in telling Yerevan to make such a choice through a referendum “as soon as possible.” They also implicitly threatened to suspend Armenia’s membership in the bloc. Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian dismissed the demand.

Moscow is ramping up the pressure on Yerevan ahead of the June 7 elections in which Pashinian’s Civil Contract party is challenged by opposition groups pledging to repair Russian-Armenian relations.

According to Armenian government data, Russia accounted for 35.8 percent of Armenia’s foreign trade last year, followed by China (12.3 percent) and the EU (11.7 percent). Armenian exports to Russia totaled almost $3 billion in 2025, compared with $667 million worth of goods exported by Armenian firms to EU member states.

The EU condemned the Russian pressure on Monday. It accused Moscow of trying to “hurt Armenia’s economy” and “influence the outcome” of Sunday’s elections.

“We will continue supporting Armenia to handle such attempts of coercion,” EU spokesman Anouar El Anouni said, according to the AFP news agency.

The EU itself was accused by Russia as well as the Armenian opposition of election meddling after deciding earlier this year to send a “hybrid rapid response team” to Yerevan for the ballot. The deployment was requested by Pashinian’s government.

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Following two European summits hosted by the Armenian government in early May, Russian President Vladimir Putin said Yerevan should make such a choice “as soon as possible.” The leaders of Belarus, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan backed this stance during an EEU summit in Astana on Friday boycotted by Pashinian. In a joint statement with Putin, they called for an Armenian referendum on the issue.

“Until Armenia officially applies for membership in the European Union or is very close to the status of candidate for EU membership, holding any referendum is illogical,” countered Pashinian.

“Today that choice is theoretical, and putting a theoretical choice on a referendum is not quite sensible, correct and well-founded,” he said.

Armenia, he said, will remain a member of the Russian-led trade bloc “until the moment when choosing between the European Union and the Eurasian Economic Union is inevitable.” He again refused to set any time frames.

Pashinian’s government enacted last year a law calling for the “start of a process of Armenia’s accession to the European Union.” Its domestic critics denounced the move as reckless, saying that the EU will not admit the South Caucasus in the foreseeable future. No EU member state or institution has voiced explicit support for such a prospect so far.

In their statement, Putin and the other EEU leaders implicitly warned of a possible suspension of Armenia’s membership in the Russian-led bloc vital for the Armenian economy. They said their prime ministers will present “possible consequences” of such a development at the next EEU summit in December.

Pashinian has stressed in recent weeks that Armenia cannot be kicked out of the EEU without its consent. Opposition groups challenging him in the June 7 parliamentary elections say that even if Pashinian vetoes its exit, Russia will still be in a position to impose crippling economic sanctions on Yerevan. Citing sanitary grounds, Moscow has already banned or seriously restricted the import of some Armenian products in the last ten days.

Putin warned of more economic measures against Armenia when he spoke to journalists in Astana. And he again emphasized the fact that the country is heavily dependent on Russia for trade and energy.

“While moving toward the European Union, which is Armenia’s absolute sovereign right, Armenia cannot and should not do so at the expense of EEU countries,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said for his part. “It must do so at its own expense.”

The Russian Foreign Ministry announced on Saturday that Russia’s ambassador in Yerevan, Sergei Kopyrkin, has been recalled to Moscow for “consultations in connection with the Armenian leadership’s steps to move closer to the European Union which are detrimental to cooperation within the EEU.”

Despite the recall, Putin phoned Pashinian on Monday to congratulate him on his 51^st birthday anniversary. They also discussed the “results” of the EEU summit in the Kazakh capital, according to the Kremlin’s short readout of the call.

Pashinian’s office said, for its part, that the two leaders spoke about “current issues on the bilateral and multilateral agenda.” It said Pashinian thanked Putin for his “balanced positions, friendly tone as well as support on a number of issues that give rise to misunderstandings.”

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