Russia’s Foreign Ministry has rejected reporting by the Russian independent media outlet The Insider that detailed the Kremlin’s efforts to influence the upcoming Armenian parliamentary elections. One of The Insider’s key claims — that Russian-Armenian tycoon and opposition figure Samvel Karapetyan had links to Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) — was not directly addressed. Meanwhile, Russia has continued to escalate its economic pressure campaign on Armenia, this time by restricting the import of Armenian flowers.

The investigation published by The Insider on Tuesday had cited leaked offline databases allegedly showing that when Karapetyan was issued an international passport in Russia in 1999, his workplace was mentioned in the Information Centre of the FSB. It also detailed the various Russian operatives tasked with managing the Kremlin’s information war against Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan.

Russia’s Foreign Ministry responded directly to The Insider on Thursday with a lengthy diatribe, saying the outlet had ‘long ago turned into a tool for media manipulation and false anti-Russian propaganda, and continues to generate fakes, fulfilling the corresponding orders of its foreign masters’.

‘The arguments presented in the “investigation” are nothing more than blatant lies and an organised provocation aimed at exerting psychological pressure on Russian diplomats and intimidating the Armenian public before the elections’.

The Russian Foreign Ministry, which published a photo mashup of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi with Adolf Hitler on Thursday, criticised the ‘professionalism’ of the investigation, claiming, without citing evidence, that it contained ‘numerous factual errors and inaccuracies’.

Links between unnamed individuals in Armenia, likely referring to Karapetyan and fellow tycoon and opposition figure Gagik Tsarukyan, were also downplayed.

‘Any contacts of such figures with the Russian side, participation in international platforms and expert events are automatically declared as “work under the supervision of Russian intelligence”, and the opposition activities themselves are considered part of a “Kremlin operation”. In other words, Armenian society is being forced into a primitive scheme of “government criticism equals a Moscow agent” ’.

The Foreign Ministry further claimed, again without evidence, that The Insider’s investigation was linked to an EU mission to Armenia to combat Russian influence operations.

Separately, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Galuzin rejected a different accusation that Karapetyan’s nephew, Narek Karapetyan, holds Russian citizenship. The previous day, Armenian authorities announced they were looking into the charges, while Karapetyan himself stated he was solely an Armenian citizen.

On Thursday, the Armenian media outlet Factor reported that the citizenship data for Narek Karapetyan in the Russian state registry had been edited to show that he only held Armenian citizenship.

Economic and rhetorical pressure

In its latest effort to put economic pressure on Armenia in response to the country’s reorientation westward, Russia announced ‘temporary restrictions’ on the export of Armenian flowers on Wednesday. The Russian Federal Service for Veterinary and Phytosanitary Surveillance said the move was made to ‘protect Russia’s export potential and phytosanitary safety’.

Russia has repeatedly been accused of imposing such export restrictions as a form of economic coercion on countries, including Armenia.

Earlier in May, Russia suspended the sale of Armenian Jermuk water over alleged regulatory violations.

Separately, the secretary of Russia’s Security Council, Sergei Shoigu, made thinly veiled threats of further economic measures against Armenia as part of wider criticisms of the country on Wednesday.

‘Cooperation with Russia is the main driver of the Armenian economy. It’s difficult to dispute this fact’, Shoigu said.

‘I wonder in what quantities and under what conditions Armenian apricots, trout, and mineral water will be supplied to the European Union’.

Shoigu further accused Armenia of taking a number of ‘unfriendly’ steps recently, including the invitation of Zelenskyi to Yerevan for the European Political Community summit earlier in May.

‘It is no secret that the leadership of that country has taken a number of steps of late that do not correspond to the spirit of allied relations with the Russian Federation’, Shoigu said.

Moscow cannot accept the policy adopted by official Yerevan regarding membership in the Eurasian Economic Union, under which Armenia intends to retain membership until it succeeds in joining the European Union, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Galuzin said after a meeting of a special Russian Security Council working group.

“Of course, Moscow cannot accept the line currently pursued by Armenia’s leadership, namely the policy of maintaining membership in the Eurasian Economic Union until, so to speak, transitioning to membership in the European Union. Such approaches cannot satisfy us; they are absolutely unacceptable for us,” he said, according to Sputnik Armenia.

Galuzin also recalled that Armenia signed the treaty on the Eurasian Economic Union as well as documents concerning the union’s further development through 2030 and 2045.

“It clearly states that Armenia, like the other members of the union, undertakes to fulfill the provisions of the treaty and to refrain from actions that could jeopardize or hinder Eurasian economic integration,” he said.

The Russian deputy foreign minister added that simultaneous membership in both unions is fundamentally impossible.

“It is impossible to be in two unions at the same time. As they say, Armenia cannot dance at two weddings simultaneously,” Galuzin added, according to RIA Novosti.

He also said that Armenia’s possible accession to the European Union is largely a populist slogan, which Brussels uses in relation to various countries. According to him, similar approaches were previously applied in the cases of Ukraine and Moldova and are now also being used toward Armenia.

During talks with Nikol Pashinyan on April 1, Russian President Vladimir Putin stated that simultaneous participation in the customs unions of the European Union and the EEU is impossible. Russian presidential aide Yuri Ushakov also said Armenia’s authorities are attempting to “sit on two chairs,” which harms the development of bilateral Russian-Armenian relations. On May 9, Putin proposed discussing Armenia’s EU-related plans during the upcoming Eurasian Economic Union summit.