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Ivan Khomenko

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan will not attend the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) summit in Astana on May 28–29, delegating participation to Deputy Prime Minister Mher Grigoryan.

According to Armenian outlet News.am, Pashinyan said he had informed Russian leader Vladimir Putin during his April visit to Russia, as well as Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, about his decision in advance.

The Armenian leader linked his absence to the country’s parliamentary election campaign ahead of the June 7 vote and a military parade scheduled for May 28 in Armenia. The announcement follows renewed tensions between Yerevan and Moscow after Pashinyan also did not attend Russia’s Victory Day parade in Moscow on May 9.

Putin later suggested that Armenia should hold a referendum on leaving the EAEU and pursuing European Union membership, describing it as a potential “soft, intelligent and mutually beneficial divorce.” The Russian leader also referenced Ukraine, stating that Kyiv’s “conflict” with Moscow began after its attempt to move toward the EU.

Speaking to reporters, Pashinyan said Armenia currently has no plans to organize a referendum on EAEU membership. “We respect all our partners in the EAEU, as well as our participation in the Union,” Pashinyan said.

The Armenian prime minister also rejected Putin’s description of interstate relations as a “divorce.”

“We are confusing interstate relations with marriage. Armenia in interstate relations is guided by interstate logic,” Pashinyan said. “We are full members of the EAEU. And while we are members of the EAEU, we fully participate in all decision-making.”

Pashinyan said Armenia would continue implementing legislation aimed at deepening relations with the European Union and pursuing democratic reforms. “We will also move forward within the framework of the law on deepening relations with the EU and membership in the EU, that is, along the path of democratic reforms,” he said.

Earlier, Azerbaijan introduced Turkish-made missile-armed naval drones into the Caspian Sea amid growing security tensions and increasingly strained relations with Russia and Iran. The move was viewed as part of Baku’s broader effort to diversify its defense partnerships and reduce reliance on Moscow.

A group of Turkish journalists visited Gyumri after participating in the European Political Community summit in Yerevan and the “Yerevan Dialogue” forum, where they explored the prospects of reopening the Gyumri-Kars railway, according to Ermenihaber.am.

During their visit, the journalists toured the railway area and discussed the importance of reopening the Armenia-Turkey border crossing.

At the Armenian-Turkish border, the journalists met with Levon Barseghyan, head of the Gyumri-based Asparez Journalists’ Association, to discuss the potential impact of reopening the border.

Barseghyan noted that the Akhurik railway station was part of the Cold War-era railway network and serves as Armenia’s last railway point before Turkey, as well as the final station on the route leading toward Europe. According to him, the railway could become part of the so-called Middle Corridor connecting Asia and Europe.

He also recalled that the route had operated during the Soviet period and remained open for about a year in 1992-1993.

According to Barseghyan, reopening the border could significantly boost trade and improve relations between Armenia and Turkey. He added that such a move would benefit not only the two neighboring countries but also the wider region.

By PanARMENIAN

“At the working level, we discussed this issue with the Russian president, and I said what I have also stated publicly: until there is a de jure and de facto necessity to make a choice, we will not place such a question on the agenda,” Pashinyan said, according to Radar Armenia.

The prime minister also stressed that he does not agree with Putin’s use of the term “divorce.”

“I have said in parliament as well that we sometimes confuse interstate relations with marriage. Armenia is guided by interstate logic in its foreign relations, and we are a member of the Eurasian Economic Union like the other members. As long as we remain in the EAEU, we fully participate in decision-making. And since no such necessity has emerged, we do not intend to raise such a question. We will hold a referendum when there is an objective need for it. But my assessment is that such an objective necessity simply does not exist,” he stated.

According to Pashinyan, Armenia’s goal has never been and will never be to harm Russian interests.

“We will continue to be guided by Armenia’s state interests and continue deepening and developing relations with Russia, understanding that an inevitable transformation is taking place in those relations,” the prime minister said.

Pashinyan stressed that the changes in Armenian-Russian relations are objective in nature and not connected to his personality.

“There are questions, there are discomforts, there are nuances requiring clarification. But my assessment is that these issues should be addressed calmly, peacefully, without tension and without additional escalation,” he added.

According to Pashinyan, he maintains working relations with the Russian president based on mutual trust.

“We have discussed the sharpest issues in a calm, respectful and friendly atmosphere, relying on facts and arguments,” Pashinyan noted.

Russian President Vladimir Putin earlier stated that Armenia should clarify its position regarding possible membership in the European Union. He said Armenia’s plans to join the EU “require special discussion.”

“For example, a referendum could be held. It is not our business, but in principle it would be entirely logical to ask Armenian citizens what their choice will be. Based on that, we would draw conclusions and move toward a soft, civilized and mutually beneficial ‘divorce.’ After all, we are now witnessing everything that happened in the Ukrainian direction. And how did it begin? With Ukraine’s attempt to join the EU,” Putin said.

Russia’s 102nd military base in Gyumri, Armenia, exerts social, spiritual, and political influence on Armenia, undermining its sovereignty.

This is stated in an investigation by UIC.

Timofey Kazaryan, a priest of Armenian descent and a clergyman of the Russian Orthodox Church, serves at the Russian 102nd military base stationed in Gyumri. Officially, he holds the position of assistant to the base commander, Colonel Alexander Bezborodov, for matters related to working with religious service members.

At the same time, he maintains active and close contacts with the clergy of the Shirak Diocese of the Armenian Apostolic Church, particularly through joint events.

The clergyman’s duties include conducting individual conversations with military personnel and providing spiritual support in stressful or difficult family situations. However, according to available information, Father Timofey also engages almost daily in open propaganda aimed at undermining Armenian statehood.

According to data from two independent sources, he carries out his activities in Orthodox churches operating at the military base — in the Church of the Holy Martyr Queen Alexandra, as well as occasionally in the Chapel of Archangel Michael on “Honor Hill.”

At the same time, Father Timofey’s activities and connections are not limited to the 102nd military base. He is likely one of the representatives of the Russian state institutional network operating in Armenia.

One piece of evidence for this was a donation made in July 2023 by the “House of Moscow” in Yerevan to benefit the churches at the military base. Priest Timofey was personally present at the event and publicly praised this initiative.

It is known that “House of Moscow” is not merely a cultural center — the organization is funded by the Moscow government and serves as one of the official instruments of Russian “soft power.”

It is particularly telling that the 102nd military base in Gyumri is likely also being used to influence electoral processes in Armenia.

Armenian citizens working at the base are facing pressure. People who contacted the authors of the investigation and wished to remain anonymous due to fears of persecution by the command report that they are being forced to vote for a specific political party under threat of dismissal.

Moreover, according to them, the Russian command demands that this pressure be extended to family members, relatives, and friends, thereby increasing the number of controlled votes.

Thus, the military base command is likely violating paragraph 6 of part 1 of Article 23 of the Electoral Code of Armenia, as well as committing acts provided for in part 1 of Article 40.8 of the Code of Administrative Offenses and part 3 of Article 210 and part 2 of Article 211 of the Criminal Code of Armenia.

It was recently reported that French President Emmanuel Macron called on Europe to help Armenia secure its own borders.

https://militarnyi.com/en/news/russia-102-base-armenia-pressure-on-country/

Inconsistency between Government reluctance to formally acknowledge Armenian genocide and clear stance on Gaza

On a hilltop looking out over the Armenian capital, Yerevan, are a dozen towering grey granite pillars, built leaning towards each other in a circle.

In the ground below there’s a burning flame that commemorates the more than one million Armenian people who were exterminated a century ago.

A large wreath is resting against one pillar, set down by French president Emmanuel Macron a few days ago.

A summit of nearly 50 European leaders in Yerevan was staged five minutes walk away, in a futuristic looking event centre built during the later years of Soviet rule in the south Caucasus country.

Taoiseach Micheál Martin wasn’t able to take the short stroll to the genocide memorial after the summit wrapped up. Ireland has not formally recognised the Armenian genocide, so Martin would have created an awkward situation on the diplomatic front had he stopped to pay his respects in an official capacity.

More than a million Armenians living under Ottoman rule were estimated to have been killed by the Turk-led regime, in a campaign of ethnic persecution that began during the first World War.

Paranoid the Armenian minority posed a threat to the stability of the empire, Ottoman authorities set about forcibly clearing the Christian communities from large swathes of the empire’s territory in 1915.

The plan was preceded by early defeats for the Ottoman army in the war, which were blamed on the Armenian minority.

A massive deportation campaign forced the Armenian population on long marches to the Syrian desert. Food and water was scarce and huge numbers died. Brutal violence, abuse and killings were also common. Those who survived were imprisoned in concentration camps where many more starved to death.

The Armenian state has said the plan was a clear attempt to wipe out the population and constituted a genocide.

[ Armenia, wedged between east and west, plays footsie with EuropeOpens in new window ]

Turkey has always pushed back against classing the deportation and mass deaths as genocide, saying, rather, the “mandatory transfer” was a chaotic, wartime act of an empire on the verge of collapse and not a premeditated plan to exterminate the Armenian population.

“What happened in 1915, it is classic genocide,” said Hrachia Tashchian, acting director of the Armenian genocide memorial museum and institute.

More than half of the states in the European Union recognise the Armenian genocide. In total 31 countries or parliaments have done so worldwide.

“I believe that countries that have not recognised yet the genocide, they did it for political reasons,” Tashchian said.

The persecution of the Armenians “completely corresponds” to the criteria set out in the United Nations’ genocide convention of 1948. “Intentional destruction, intentional elimination,” he said.

There is a tradition that visiting dignitaries plant a fir tree on the grounds of the Yerevan memorial, known as Tsitsernakaberd.

You can gauge how long it took different countries to mark the genocide by the height of the fir tree beside each plaque marking the visit. Trees planted by Russian and French politicians decades ago are huge now.

That’s not surprising. Armenia has historically been deeply wedded to Moscow and there is a huge Armenian diaspora in France, the largest in western Europe. Newer trees planted in recent years are only a metre high.

The Department of Foreign Affairs has resisted formally classing what happened to the Armenians as a genocide.

Then-minister for foreign affairs Simon Coveney told the Dáil in 2019 that the Republic would not be joining others who had done so.

There was “no international consensus” on the subject. “Ireland follows the practice of recognising genocide only where this has been established by a judgment of an international court, or where there is international consensus on the matter,” he said.

However, that position is at odds with the Government’s response to Israel’s actions in Gaza, where it has publicly called out the bombardment and starvation of Palestinians as genocidal.

Responding to questions in the Dáil last May, Martin said Israel was “committing genocide in Gaza right now. Let us call a spade a spade.”

South Africa, joined by Ireland and others, has taken a case to the International Court of Justice, though the UN court has yet to rule on whether Israel breached the genocide convention.

The Department of Foreign Affairs did not respond to questions about the differing standards used when considering Armenia’s claims of genocide.

Ireland of course accepts the Holocaust of Europe’s Jews by the Nazis as a genocide.

Tashchian, who was previously a diplomat and adviser to the prime minister Nikol Pashinyan, said the Armenian debate was caught up in geopolitical calculations.

Turkey is a powerful player internationally and a key regional partner for many western governments.

“Turkey wants to move this issue to the political field … There is no question was it genocide, there is no question for us,” Tashchian said. Turkey had “written their own history” playing down what happened to the Armenians, he said.

The president of the Belgian parliament is due soon and so Tashchian needs to source a small fir tree for a planting ceremony in the memorial garden. “No Irish tree there yet; I hope there will be soon in the foreseeable future,” he said.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said it would be “logical” if Armenia held a referendum on EU membership, after it hosted a European summit for the first time.

The former Soviet republic froze its membership in the Russian-led CSTO military alliance in 2024 over Russia’s failure to defend it against Azerbaijan, and has expressed an interest in joining the European Union, angering the Kremlin.

Asked at a press conference about Yerevan’s EU aspirations, Putin said it would be “quite logical to hold a referendum and ask the Armenian citizens what their choice would be. Based on that, we would make our own choice as well”.

“And then we would have gone down the path of a gentle, civilized, and mutually beneficial separation,” the Russian president added.

Putin also drew a parallel with Ukraine. “We are all going through everything that’s happening in the Ukrainian direction right now. But how did it all start? With Ukraine’s attempt to join the EU.”

From May 4-6, Yerevan hosted the 8th European Political Community (EPC) summit and used the two-day gathering of European leaders in its capital to push its top priority, security, and to accelerate its shift away from Russia and towards Western partners.

Meanwhile, the French President Emmanuel Macron used the occasion to further deepen its defense partnership with the beleaguered country that has lost two wars to Azerbaijan in the last six years, lost control of the historically Armenian-speaking territory of Nagorno-Karabakh, and is desperate to come out of the shadow of Russia.

In fact, as the European Union and Armenia laid the groundwork for deeper integration during the landmark EPC summit in Yerevan, France’s presence loomed large – diplomatically, economically, and culturally.

For decades after the disintegration of the Soviet Union, the landlocked Armenia did Russia’s bidding in the South Caucasus, providing it with military bases and serving as Moscow’s loyal outpost south of the Black Sea.

Crucially, Armenia also provided Russia with a land bridge to Iran, Moscow’s key ally in West Asia.

Armenia also joined the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), a post-Soviet Russian equivalent of NATO.

However, Armenia has frozen its participation in the Russia-led collective security organization since 2024 and is gradually pivoting towards the EU and NATO.

This historic shift has the potential to rewrite the balance of power in this strategic region that sits at the crossroads of Europe, West Asia, Central Asia, Russia, and South Asia.

In fact, Armenia and the South Caucasus are at the heart of both India-supported International North-South Transport Corridor (INSTC) and Europe’s plans to link Central Asian gas fields with its markets.

No wonder India and France have emerged as primary military and diplomatic backers of Armenia as it navigates a challenging neighborhood and tries to balance its historical dependence on Russia with new partnerships in the West and East.

Armenia’s Pivot Towards France

Bordering openly hostile Azerbaijan to the East, historical adversary Turkey to the West, and war-torn Georgia and Iran to the North and South, Armenia finds itself in a challenging and sometimes openly antagonistic neighborhood.

This challenging neighborhood meant that Armenia depended on Russia for its security.

However, Moscow’s failure to safeguard Armenia’s security and interests despite its CSTO membership during the two wars with Azerbaijan forced a strategic rethink in Yerevan.

Under Article 4 of the CSTO Treaty, analogous to NATO’s Article 5, member states are obligated to give each other “the necessary help, including military” in the event of foreign aggression.

Despite this explicit cause, Moscow did nothing to protect Armenia during its two recent wars with Azerbaijan.

Russia proved itself an unreliable security partner, and Yerevan has since tried to balance its dependence on Moscow by cultivating defense and security partnerships with diverse countries.

However, France has emerged as a key partner for Yerevan.

The visit of President Macron, timed to coincide with the first EU‑Armenia summit, underscored France’s ambition to anchor itself in the small, landlocked country as it turns away from Moscow.

France is positioning itself as a key player in Armenia’s emerging role as a regional hub for trade, energy, and digital connectivity.

The EU‑Armenia connectivity partnership, signed during the summit, aims to strengthen transport and energy links and interlocks French and European interests in routes between Central Asia, the Caspian Sea, and Europe – notably the Trans-Caspian route.

France and Armenia also signed a joint declaration establishing a strategic partnership and agreed to expand cooperation in the defense sector.

A memorandum of understanding between the defense ministries of Armenia and France provides for cooperation in research, development, and advanced military technologies.

In addition, Armenia’s defense ministry signed a contract with the French group Sofema to supply equipment.

An agreement was also concluded with Airbus Helicopters for the delivery of transport helicopters. According to local media, this involves six multi-purpose Airbus H145 helicopters.

Notably, France has emerged as Armenia’s largest arms supplier in recent years.

Paris has delivered CAESAR howitzers, GM200 radars, and Bastion APCs to Armenia.

During his trip, President Macron also called on Europe to help Armenia independently secure its borders.

“There are still 4,000 Russian soldiers on Armenian territory, including over 1,000 border guards. Europe must, therefore, commit to helping the country secure its borders more independently,” Macron said.

Russian forces are stationed in Armenia under a bilateral agreement that established the 102nd military base in Gyumri. This facility serves as Russia’s military presence in the South Caucasus region.

The base was established in 1995 for a 25-year period. However, the agreement was renewed later, and Russian troops can now remain in the country until 2044.

Macron suggested that Europe should provide this support to Armenia to reduce its dependence on Russia.

Notably, Armenia has already accepted a European Union (EU)–led civilian border-monitoring force, rejecting a Russian proposal for the same. Numbering around 200, this is the first such EU Common Security and Defense Policy mission in a Russian-allied country.

Armenia has also acceded to the International Criminal Court (meaning that, in theory, Putin could be arrested if he sets foot on Armenian soil).

Russia’s failure to safeguard Armenian interests has also led to the downfall of Russia’s image in the Armenian public.

Between 2019 and 2023, according to an International Republican Institute poll, the number of Armenians who described the country’s relationship with Russia as “good” fell drastically, from 93 percent to 31 percent. France is now regarded by the Armenian public as the country’s most important political partner, with the United States in second place.

In recent years, Armenia has taken several steps to pivot towards the EU, and EU officials have reciprocated. In March 2024, the European Parliament welcomed Armenia’s application for candidate status to the European Union.

Armenia also hosted a training exercise with U.S special forces in September 2023.

India has also emerged as another crucial partner for Armenia.

India: The New Security Partner for Armenia

After France, India has emerged as the second-largest arms exporter to Armenia. In fact, Yerevan is now India’s single largest arms export customer.

In recent years, Armenia has purchased Pinaka multi-barrel rocket launchers, Akash-1S surface-to-air missile systems, ATAGS 155mm towed howitzers, Swathi weapon-locating radars, and MArG truck-mounted artillery.

Besides, Armenia is considering signing deals for the Akash-NG and Astra Mk2 AAMs. Armenia is also considering signing a contract with New Delhi to upgrade its Su-30 fleet to India’s Su-30MKI specifications.

In 2025-26 alone, Armenia imported roughly US$2 billion worth of Indian systems, helping propel India into the world’s top 25 arms exporters.

Indian systems now form the backbone of Armenia’s artillery, air defense, and counter-battery capabilities.

Notably, till one decade ago, Armenia used to import nearly 90% of its arms from Russia. Currently, Russia’s share has dropped to less than 10 percent, even as France and India have moved quickly to fill in the vacuum.

The message to Moscow is clear: Yerevan is hedging its bets in a multipolar world.

As Armenia hosted its first-ever ECP summit and French President Macron on a two-day state visit, the message to Moscow was clear: Armenia sees its future in the West.

While EU membership remains a distant dream, the era of Russia as Yerevan’s sole security provider is over.

Macron has sent a clear message that Yerevan should remove the 5,000-odd Russian soldiers from its territory, as Moscow has failed to protect its interests; instead, the EU should fulfill that role.

As Russian influence wanes in Armenia, a new constellation of states, the EU, France, and India, have moved in to fill the breach.

The South Caucasus will never be the same.

• Sumit Ahlawat has over a decade of experience in news media. He has worked with Press Trust of India, Times Now, Zee News, Economic Times, and Microsoft News. He holds a Master’s Degree in International Media and Modern History from the University of Sheffield, UK. 
• With AFP Inputs