We cannot rule out that Russia will follow the relations with Armenia

On June 7, the day of national elections in Armenia, Nikol Pashinyan had a briefing with journalists after voting at the polling station. During the briefing, he also referred to the so-called tense relations with Russia and the observation that Russia imposes sanctions on Armenia, Nikol Pashinyan said that such problems happen all the time, it’s another thing that they are being covered now.

“In other words, it is covered due to the interest of the circles of forces operating in Armenia known to you, expenses, etc. Labor issues related to EAEU, not only Armenia-Russia, but also among all countries, there are labor issues of this kind.

Every time on the agenda of the meeting of the EAEU intergovernmental council, we discuss dozens of issues related to such phenomena: phytosanitary issues, standards, exports, re-exports, problems related to the origin of products, because all EAEU countries are worried that the goods of third countries are imported into an EAEU country, become an EAEU product and re-exported to another EAEU country. had said Nikol Pashinyan.

What is the perspective of Armenian-Russian relations after the elections? Is it possible that the RA government will take practical steps regarding the EAEU and the CSTO?

Political scientist Davit Harutyunov according to the assessment, at the moment, the Armenian side is trying to ease the tension, that is, there is an aspiration for mutual contacts at the highest possible level, at the same time, there is a certain reduction of rhetoric.

“It is interesting that Alen Simonyan is leaving the post of Speaker of the National Assembly, because he was one of the main speakers who constantly made anti-Russian statements. Of course, Alen Simonyan is not the only one, and domestically, the authorities are trying to present to the public that the problems that are manageable during contacts will somehow be solved, etc.

And from the Russian side, we see that, on the one hand, there is no deepening of relations, nor are those economic restrictions against Armenia deepened, and on the other hand, contacts with Armenia are being made, but at a low level, because we saw that after the elections, Nikol Pashinyan-Putin did not meet.” 168.amDavit Harutyunov said in a conversation with

According to the political scientist, Russia’s steps in these processes are somewhat unclear, that is, the crisis that started a few months ago was aimed at putting pressure on the RA authorities, or is it about the long-term, consistent deterioration of relations with Armenia, and will these trends continue? There are currently no answers to these questions.

“I think that both options cannot be ruled out, because there were similar tensions in the past, which were somehow resolved, but now we cannot rule out that Russia will continue to deteriorate relations, because Russia will be able to endure without Armenia.

There may be a third option in Armenian-Russian relations, that is, these relations may remain in such a frozen state for a long time,” the political scientist added.

Regarding the CSTO and EAEU, Davit Harutyunov said that the EAEU is a very important structure for Armenia from an economic point of view, therefore, Armenia’s economy will have unpredictable consequences if it is left out of the structure. Although at the moment, Armenia will not leave EAEU on its own initiative, moreover, the government says that it is interested in the work, and they are trying to resolve the tension.

“It is difficult to say what the Russian side will do. In terms of the CSTO, Armenia does not receive many things from the structure at the moment, for a long time, the activity of our country in that structure has been frozen. That’s why I don’t rule out Armenia leaving the structure. At the same time, I think that the structure was left for further “trade”, that is, if the Armenian-Russian relations improve at some stage, then Armenia will start to become more active in the CSTO,” emphasized Davit Harutyunov.

—