Category: News

Russia has suspended the sale of several Armenian alcoholic products, widening a series of trade restrictions that come amid increasingly strained relations between Moscow and Yerevan, Russia’s consumer safety watchdog said.

Rospotrebnadzor said Friday that it had identified Armenian alcohol products circulating in Russia that failed to meet mandatory requirements and ordered sales to be halted. The agency did not specify which standards had allegedly been violated.

The measure is the latest in a series of restrictions on Armenian goods introduced as relations between Moscow and Yerevan deteriorate. Days earlier, Russia’s agricultural watchdog announced temporary curbs on all flower imports originating from or transiting through Armenia.

Rospotrebnadzor said the restrictions applied to products made by Armenian producers Vedi-Alco, the Abovyan Brandy Factory and the Shakhnazaryan Wine and Brandy House.

Products listed by the agency included Getap Vernashen semi-sweet red wine and Vedi Alco dry white wine from the Legends ARNI line, Armenian Cognac 5 Stars and seven-year-old Shakhnazaryan XO cognac.

The watchdog said it had instructed importers and retailers to suspend sales and withdraw the products from circulation.

The announcement followed a similar measure a day earlier against Armenian mineral water brand Jermuk. Russian authorities imposed a full ban on its imports and sale, citing excessive levels of bicarbonates, chlorides and sulfates.

Rospotrebnadzor said consumers could be misled about the product’s medicinal properties, which it said could result in ineffective treatment and worsening health outcomes.

The restrictions come against the backdrop of deteriorating relations between Russia and Armenia, once one of Moscow’s closest allies in the South Caucasus.

Russian officials have accused Armenia of taking what they describe as “unfriendly steps,” including following Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s participation in a summit of the European Political Community attended by Armenian leaders.

State Duma Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin has publicly criticized Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan over Armenia’s decision to begin the process of seeking EU membership and for recognizing the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court, which issued an arrest warrant for President Vladimir Putin.

Russian Security Council Secretary Sergei Shoigu has also accused Armenia of deliberately worsening conditions for Russian businesses operating in the country.

Putin has warned Armenia to consider the consequences of pursuing closer integration with Europe, invoking Ukraine as an example and suggesting that Yerevan should first hold a referendum on leaving the Eurasian Economic Union if it wished to part ways with Moscow “softly, intelligently and mutually beneficially.”

Read this article in Russian at The Moscow Times’ Russian service.

Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan is not a “guarantor of peace” for Armenia, he is just a “crook, elevated to the top of power in a certain period.” This was stated to RIA Novosti by Deputy Chairman of the Security Council of the Russian Federation Dmitry Medvedev today, May 25.

Medvedev noted that Pashinyan has set a course to break off relations with Russia, as a result of which the people of Armenia will lose the Russian market and the entire EAEU.

“Apparently, he thinks we’re suckers. At the same time, he himself made a big mistake in the coordinate system and is pursuing an extremely dangerous course for his country,” said the deputy chairman of the Russian Security Council. “Think about it: as a result of the actions of this very specific little man, the entire people of Armenia will lose, who will lose the Russian market, the entire EAEU and the economic ties built over decades.”

In particular, Pashinyan’s course may lead to Yerevan having to buy Russian gas at European prices, which is three times more expensive than current tariffs.

“It is especially dangerous that temporary worker Nikol is actively pushing his homeland on the sorrowful path of Bandera Ukraine,” Medvedev added.

The deputy chairman of the Security Council pointed out that Pashinyan, despite Yerevan’s benefits from membership in the EAEU, refused to participate in the union’s summits, and gathers in Yerevan “vile enemies of Russia”.

“Armenia is historically a very close country for us, our strategic partner. I emphasize — the fraternal people of Armenia, and not any Armenian leader,” he said.

Medvedev said that during the first conversation with Pashinyan, he touched upon the topic of Russia’s special relationship with the people of Armenia, but he said: “You will never accept me, I am a stranger to you.” Then Medvedev assured the head of the Armenian cabinet that for Moscow “there are no friends and strangers.”

“You have been elected by the people, and we will work with you, but the course that your government will pursue depends only on you. And for us, only the fraternal people of Armenia for Russia are their own. We will always have the most friendly relations with him,” Medvedev said in an interview with Pashinyan, recalling that only in “There are more Armenians living in Russia than in Armenia itself.”

However, the conversation did not affect the Armenian Prime Minister, “he did not heed these words, did not appreciate the numerous examples of fraternal help and support” from Russia.

Read more: https://eadaily.com/en/news/2026/05/25/medvedev-pashinyan-is-a-crook-he-considers-us-suckers-and-all-armenians-will-suffer

IMEMC News

International Middle East Media Center

He stated that this will change if the country continues “further economic integration” into the EU.

“Russia remains a reliable and responsible supplier of energy resources to all countries, and especially to its closest allies and partners. Well, of course, such a regime, such a regime is impossible for participants of other integrations. There, the price category is completely different, it is market-based. This is well known to our friends in Yerevan. We continue the dialogue,” Peskov stated.

Paris – Radio France Internationale has inaugurated its eighteenth language service, opening an Armenian-language newsroom today, Monday, with a team of eight journalists and a mandate to reach young audiences through digital-only content.

Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and his Civil Contract party have increased their already substantial lead ahead of the upcoming Armenian parliamentary elections, according to a new poll released by the International Republican Institute (IRI) on Friday. Of those polled, 32% said they would vote for Civil Contract, with the distant second place choice being Russian-Armenian tycoon Samvel Karapetyan’s Strong Armenia Alliance at 6%.

The poll showed there is still considerable room for an upset, as 23% said they were undecided and another 21% refused to answer.

A previous IRI poll from March 2026 found that 24% of respondents said they would vote for Pashinyan’s Civil Contract party, with Karapetyan’s Strong Armenia coming in at 9%.

The election, set for 7 June, has been widely viewed as a pivotal contest and a referendum on Armenia’s geopolitical standing, with Pashinyan seeking to deepen ties to the West and Karapetyan and other opposition figures articulating a more pro-Russian course. It is also the first time that Pashinyan, originally elected following the 2018 Velvet Revolution, will face voters since the 2023 surrender of Nagorno-Karabakh and subsequent exodus of virtually the entire Armenian population.

Nonetheless, Pashinyan has much higher levels of trust compared to his primary opponents, Karapetyan, ex-President Robert Kocharyan, and eccentric tycoon Gagik Tsarukyan.

The poll found that 29% of voters trusted Pashinyan, with Karapetyan at 8%, Kocharyan at 4%, and Tsarukyan at just 3%. In total, however, voters remain wary of politicians in general, with 40% of respondents saying they trust no one.

Other signs indicate that voters still largely approve of Armenia’s trajectory — 61% of respondents said they believed the country is heading in the right direction.

While foreign policy and security are still crucial issues, ranking in first place (17%) in terms of voters’ views on the main problems Armenia faces, the economy was a close second, coming in at 15%. However, there were other security-linked issues voters mentioned as the main problem, such as ‘lack of peace’ at 12%, ‘wrong foreign policy’ at 6%, and ‘regional security’ at 4%.

The historic Washington meeting in August 2025 that brought together Pashinyan, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, and US President Donald Trump appears to have had a significant impact on reducing security-related fears — a poll taken in June 2025 found 44% of respondent said national security and border issues were the main problem Armenia faces.

Azerbaijan remains the country that a significant majority of Armenians (73%) view as the main threat to the country, followed by Turkey at 58%. But these figures have also dropped compared to polls from previous years — in March 2023, 93% of respondents said Azerbaijan was the main political threat, followed by Turkey at 89%.