The politician believes that in the conditions of global instability, the only chance of survival for Armenia is friendship with Russia and EAEU membership.
Recently, there was a principled conversation between the Prime Ministers of Armenia and Russia Nikol Pashinyan and Mikhail Mishustin in Yekaterinburg. Russian Senator Vladimir Jabarov said this during the press conference held on the Sputnik Armenia multimedia platform, answering the question about the current state of bilateral relations in the background of the RA National Assembly elections.
“The situation in Armenia is difficult. You know that recently a meeting of prime ministers took place in Yekaterinburg. There was a principled conversation, and it was clearly said that Armenia should take a stand,” said the Russian senator.
He is convinced that the only chance for Armenia to survive in the conditions of global instability is to maintain friendship with Russia and membership of the Eurasian Economic Union.
“We will follow concrete steps. The villagers, who are unable to sell their products, are already expressing dissatisfaction. We do not intend to take revenge on the people, but we must understand that we have our own interests,” Jabarov said.
The meeting of the Prime Ministers of Armenia and Russia Nikol Pashinyan and Mikhail Mishustin took place on July 6 in Yekaterinburg. During the negotiations, Pashinyan expressed hope that the existing problematic issues will be resolved.
Earlier, the Kremlin announced that the desire to integrate into the European Union is Armenia’s sovereign right, but Yerevan cannot and should not implement this policy at the expense of EAEU countries. This was followed by restrictions on the export of Armenian products to Russia.
On May 9, Russian President Vladimir Putin said at a press conference that he believes that it would be right for both the citizens of Armenia and Moscow, the main economic partner, for official Yerevan to take a decision on EU membership as soon as possible. He also emphasized that although it is not Russia’s business, it is possible to hold a referendum and find out the opinion of RA citizens regarding membership. According to him, depending on its results, Moscow would also take action, he did not rule out that there could be a soft, civilized separation. Putin noted that Russia will support any decision of Armenia that will benefit the country.
Nikol Pashinyan told journalists on May 11 that Armenia remains a full member of EAEU, and the referendum will be held when there is an objective need.
After that, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexey Overchuk announced that some work is being done in Armenia towards the transition to EU standards, and if Armenia starts making changes in technical regulations, it will already create certain threats for EAEU.
On May 29, at the EAEU summit held in Astana, the leaders of the member states of the association issued a joint statement, in which, in particular, they emphasized the need to decide on the further integration of Armenia as soon as possible. After the summit, Putin announced that leaving the EAEU could result in a loss of about 14% of GDP.
According to statistical data, if Armenia leaves the Eurasian Economic Union, it will lose almost 40% of its trade turnover.
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