By PanARMENIAN

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said Armenia is not preparing to leave the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) and warned that such statements could undermine the bloc itself.

Speaking during the Civil Contract party’s election campaign event in Abovyan, Pashinyan said he remains the only EAEU official simultaneously serving in two supreme governing bodies.

“All those statements are meaningless. Those making them do not understand that they are digging the grave of the EAEU,” Pashinyan said, according to Armenpress.

He noted that Armenia’s deputy prime minister would attend the upcoming EAEU meeting because he is currently on leave.

“After June 7, if I receive your mandate and return to work, you will see that all alarming statements will be neutralized,” he added.

According to Pashinyan, opposition forces linked to the “party of war” fail to realize the consequences of their rhetoric.

“I advise them to step back from that path. I will return to the EAEU format, look my partners directly in the eye, place all arguments on the table, and I assure you that no problems will arise,” he stated.

Pashinyan said Armenia would no longer depend on a single route, ally or pipeline.

“We already have an East-West railway. We have the Akhalkalaki-Kars railway, and TRIPP will open soon. A gas pipeline will also pass through our territory. Through this transit, we will have our own gas, and we will be paid in gas for that transit. We will also develop alternative energy,” the prime minister said.

He added that Armenia would continue remaining in the EAEU while also pursuing reforms aligned with European standards.

“When the moment for a choice comes, you will make that choice. Armenia is becoming a crossroads of peace, and the north, south, east and west must present their best offers to the Armenian people,” Pashinyan stated.

He also commented on remarks by Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, who had claimed that Armenia was not needed by anyone. According to Pashinyan, Lukashenko is now actively warning that Armenia is moving toward the European Union and has intensified efforts through his “agent” to keep Armenia under external control, Radar Armenia reports.

On May 27, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said the Russian Embassy in Armenia had officially delivered a letter from Energy Minister Sergey Tsivilyov warning about the possible suspension or unilateral cancellation of a 2013 agreement if Armenia continues the process of joining the European Union. The agreement concerns cooperation in the supply of natural gas, petroleum products and unprocessed natural diamonds.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov later stated that preferential gas tariffs for Armenia are one of the forms of Russian support. According to him, any discounts are provided at Russia’s expense and viewed as assistance to a brotherly country.