Is it worth considering Pashinyan’s visit as a “breakthrough” or a return to former rights?

Russian Caucasian expert Sergey Markedonov in his Telegram channel referred to Nikol Pashinyan’s visit to Russia yesterday, during which Pashinyan met with Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin.

Markedonov reminded that Pashinyan’s visit to Yekaterinburg followed after Tehran. “Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan arrived on a working visit to the capital of the Ural Federal District on July 6. He participated in the plenary session of the “Innoprom-2026” forum “Industry 360: production without borders” and met with the Prime Minister of the Russian Federation Mikhail Mishustin.

The Russian side emphasized that this is Pashinyan’s first visit to Russia after the parliamentary elections in Armenia, and also reminded that Russia remains (and probably will remain) the country’s largest foreign trade partner and investor.

At the same time, the Armenian Prime Minister publicly stated that his country is willing to further develop relations with Russia and is interested in participating in the EAEU, as well as being ready to settle “problematic” issues. Is it worth considering Pashinyan’s visit as a “breakthrough” or a return to the previous situation? I’m not sure. Rather, it’s about showing manageable dialogue after a period of tension.

The main signal is that Yerevan does not sever economic ties with Russia and the EAEU, but wants to discuss the accumulated problems on a pragmatic basis. This is an invitation to stabilization, but not stabilization itself yet,” writes Markedonov.  Continuing his analysis, Markedonov explains why, however, this visit is not a breakthrough.

According to him, Pashinyan’s visit did not eliminate the existing contradictions between Moscow and Yerevan. “Russia does not want Armenia’s rapprochement with the EU, but it is advancing by leaps and bounds (see the results of Ursula von der Leyen’s visit to the South Caucasus, but it will also be followed by “ambitious substitutes”).

The “pragmatic transformation” of Armenian-Russian bilateral relations (as Pashinyan himself defines their current state) and the diversification of Yerevan’s foreign policy course look eclectic. We take everything good and unite against everything bad.

EU USA Russia Iran PRC India Azerbaijan with Turkey. What is the result? Not stability, but increasing contradictions and confrontations, all against all, but already in the Armenian territory. However, both Armenia and Russia have shown that they are not interested in a complete break. It’s not bad for the beginning, but more is needed for the continuation,” concluded Sergey Markedonov.

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