EAEU has not only economic, but also geopolitical significance for RA. Ghukasyan

The signing of the agreement on the free trade zone between EAEU and Singapore and the participation of Iranian President Hassan Rouhani in the Yerevan summit show the strengthening of the geo-economic potential of the Eurasian Economic Union. Arman Ghukasyan, chairman of the “For Social Justice” party and expert of the “Voice of the People” club, announced this at the press conference summarizing the results of the Yerevan Summit of the EAEU.

According to him, the development of relations with Singapore is important for Armenia, first of all, from the point of view of attracting foreign investments. As for Iran, the preservation and deepening of relations with the neighboring country is now mostly possible due to the existence of EAEU, as it helps Armenia partially overcome the pressures of the USA to stop ties with Tehran.

“In this sense, membership in EAEU has not only economic, but also geopolitical significance for Armenia. Of course, this membership brings many benefits for our country,” he expressed conviction.

Ghukasyan also emphasized the holding of the international forum “Transit Potential of the Eurasian Continent”, which, according to him, inspires hope that the idea of ​​new transport corridors in accordance with the requirements of the new digital era will soon be implemented with the participation of Armenia.

Arman Ghukasyan calls the organization of the dialogue between the leaders of Armenia and Russia on the territory of our country one of the important moments of the EAEU summit. He reminded that Vladimir Putin He has not visited Armenia since 2015, and the meetings held certainly contribute to maintaining a generally positive atmosphere in the relations between the two countries.

“The strategic nature of the relations between Russia and Armenia has recently become more important, from the point of view of Armenia sending a humanitarian mission to Syria, as well as the implementation of large bilateral projects in the military-technical and energy fields. However, the events of October 1 showed that when assessing Armenian-Russian relations today, it is necessary not so much to fix the external side of events (handshakes, selfies, etc.), but to focus on the content of the agenda and the agreements reached or to be reached,” he said. According to Ghukasyan, on October 1Nikol Pashinyan tried to show that there were full negotiations with the Russian leader, which, according to the speaker, is an exaggeration. According to him, the negotiations were divided into two meetings, besides, no solution to the key issues of the bilateral agenda was announced.

“Particularly, there is no clarity regarding the price of gas, besides this, Yerevan continues to demand from Moscow the complete unification of gas markets and the equalization of domestic prices. Tensions also remain around SCR and Gazprom Armenia, two important strategic investors in Armenia’s economy. It is worth highlighting the offer made by Vladimir Putin to Nikol Pashinyan to visit Moscow on an official visit, which can be considered as an urgent invitation to discuss the entire spectrum of existing issues.”

All these problems, the speaker added, really exist and should be solved only through negotiations and dialogue between our countries. At the same time, he drew attention to the fact that there is already some progress, as the Minister of Transport of Russia and the General Director-Chairman of the Russian Railways Council arrived in Yerevan a few days after the EAEU summit. And judging by open sources, the Armenian and Russian sides are trying to find common solutions, but there are still no answers to many questions.

“Russia is our most important strategic ally and, like all partners, we also have problems that need to be solved through mutual understanding. But I do not share the assessments that there is a serious crisis in Armenian-Russian relations – they are exaggerated. Moreover, I tend to think that such statements and assessments harm our relations and mainly harm the interests of Armenia itself. What kind of crisis are we talking about, if Russia continues to supply arms to Armenia under previously signed contracts and at domestic prices, there are no issues related to the activities of the 102nd Russian base located in Gyumri problems, and no problems in other areas either. I repeat, the existing problematic moments should be resolved through a constructive dialogue within the framework of the dynamic development of Armenian-Russian relations,” stressed the leader of the “For Social Justice” party.