Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexey Overchuk has once again said that Armenia will eventually have to choose between the EU and its current alliance, the Eurasian Economic Union.

In an interview with the Russian state-run TASS news agency, Overchuk said that Moscow would treat Armenia’s choice with understanding.

“Of course, as Russian President Vladimir Putin has repeatedly said, we will accept any choice of the Armenian people with understanding,” the deputy prime minister said when asked by TASS about Armenia’s closer ties with the West.

He said the Armenian authorities will at some point have to choose either to stay in the Eurasian Economic Union or pursue potential EU membership instead.

“In Armenia, there is talk about the aspiration to move closer to the European Union. We have repeatedly said that membership in the Eurasian Economic Union and the European Union is incompatible. This is also very well understood in Armenia, and the country’s leadership has also spoken about the fact that they are incompatible. At some stage, they will have to make that choice, if they decide that they need to make such a choice,” TASS quoted Overchuk as saying.

The Russian deputy prime minister also said that Armenia is an allied state of Russia and that the two countries are united by deep and long-standing friendly ties.

“Moscow has great respect for the Armenian people. Armenia is a very close, allied country for us. It is a member of the Eurasian Economic Union, the Commonwealth of Independent States, and the Collective Security Treaty Organization. The human ties that unite us are very deep and very strong,” Overchuk said.

Russian President Vladimir Putin recently called on Armenia to swiftly choose between the EU and its current alliance, the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU). Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, responding to Putin’s remarks, said that he previously discussed the matter with the Russian leader. “And I have said that until the moment when there is no need to make a choice—both de jure and de facto—we are not placing such an issue on the agenda,” the Armenian leader said earlier this week.