While Nikol Pashinyan went to Kyrgyzstan to discuss the current restrictions on Armenian products and the issue of the ultimatum raised in the EAEU at the meetings of the EAEU intergovernmental council in Cholpon-Ata, Moscow continues to address the foreign policy of the RA authorities with harsh words.

The deputy director of the information and press department of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Alexey Fadeev, gave a briefing today, during which he spoke about the foreign policy and diversification agenda of the Republic of Armenia in rather harsh words. He expressed doubts that the leadership of Armenia is ready for allied interaction with Russia.

According to him, the Armenian authorities use the word “diversification” to cover up the rapprochement with the European Union, which has adopted an openly hostile attitude towards Russia.

“There is no need to change concepts, because if under the beautiful word “diversification” you hide the turn from Eurasian integration and a traditional ally to the European Union, which has adopted an openly hostile attitude towards Russia, and is seriously discussing the possibility of a direct conflict with Russia, then here, in fact, the conclusion is obvious,” said Fadeev during the briefing, commenting on the latest statements of the Armenian leadership.

He called it an open deception not only towards EAEU partners, but also towards the population of Armenia itself.

According to Fadeev, the socio-economic consequences of such a “jump” to Europe are hidden from Armenian citizens, and current difficulties related to exports are presented as some kind of sanctions by Moscow.

“These are not our sanctions, but the reality that awaits RA in case of severing traditional ties,” Fadeev noted, adding that the declarations signed by Yerevan with the West are not legally binding, unlike Armenian-Russian treaties and agreements.

He also said that neither Brussels, nor London, nor Paris will seriously invest in Armenia’s economy.

Despite Yerevan’s traditional ties with Moscow, he said, Armenia is now pursuing pro-Russian figures, threats of arbitration proceedings against Russian companies operating in Armenia and flirtation with the neo-Nazi regime in Kiev. “And if Yerevan is trying to make sure that their interests are taken into account, then why shouldn’t Moscow demand something similar from its Armenian partners?” And, of course, we expect a more realistic and balanced approach,” said Fadeev.

Ahead of the meeting of the prime ministers of the member states of the Eurasian Union in Kyrgyzstan, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexei Overchuk announced that the trade turnover of Russia and Armenia will decrease by two thirds in 2026. “In 2024, the trade turnover between Russia and Armenia reached a record value of 12 billion dollars.

Last year it decreased to 8 billion. This year, however, there is a dramatic decline in trade turnover. It is two-thirds of the 2025 figure,” said the Russian official, predicting that the decline will continue.

“The situation that has now arisen between EAEU and Armenia was predictable. In the last two years, we have been warning our Armenian partners that such risks, including the risks of a decline in trade turnover, exist,” Overchuk noted.

While in Cholpon-Ata, Nikol Pashinyan is trying to find ways out of the created economic impasse and smooth out the obstacles to the export of Armenian goods without changing the foreign policy agenda, Moscow continues to toughen the rhetoric, openly showing that economic restrictions and political pressures are being implemented in parallel. These systematic statements of high-ranking Russian officials once again show that Moscow demands from Yerevan to sharply and unequivocally clarify its foreign policy priorities, excluding the possibility of a double game.

Under these conditions, the Armenian authorities are facing a serious strategic dilemma. either try to maintain the minimum conditions of trade and economic survival in the EAEU format, sacrificing certain paces of their Western vector, or go for a sharp rupture, assuming the risk of deep economic shocks and unprecedented pressures.

Therefore, the results of the Cholpon-Ata meeting are not only a solution to technical issues, but will also show to what extent it is possible to at least temporarily contain the growing crisis. However, during his latest briefings, Nikol Pashinyan stated that he does not accept the choice proposed by Moscow and declares that he does not accept the component of exclusivity in relations.

Under these circumstances, taking into account Russia’s policy, the political traditions accepted in the EAEU, what result Pashinyan will achieve is highly doubtful.

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