Bilateral relations between Armenia and Russia entered a qualitatively new phase of open confrontation and structural rupture, the foundations of which were laid during the pre-election period and intensified in the context of geopolitical contradictions.

Bilateral diplomatic tension has reached a critical point, when the parties are unable to reach an agreement on fundamental economic and political issues.

Moscow demands from Yerevan to decide whether to go to the EU or to maintain membership in the EAEU by holding a referendum in a short period of time, and Yerevan demands from Russia to remove restrictions that contradict the EAEU and bilateral legal treaty base.

Nikoli Pashinyan’s next step after the elections in order to alleviate the economic pressures, the call to Putin, seems to have aggravated the bilateral atmosphere, not leading to any mutual understanding between the parties. After the parliamentary elections, not receiving any response from Russia regarding the elections held in RA, Pashinyan initiated a call to the Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin, which was followed by his visit to Russia and the meeting with Mishustin there.

Armenian-Russian economic issues were on the agenda of the meeting, but the meeting did not produce any objective results, shortly after that, the Russian Federation already banned the entry of Armenian dairy products into the Russian market.

The Pashinyan-Putin telephone conversation did not seem to change the situation either. judging by reports, Putin repeated Russia’s ultimatum to Armenia, the demand to hold a referendum in a short period of time, and Pashinyan noted that a referendum cannot be held at the moment, because Armenia is not currently applying for EU membership.

According to Pashinyan, such a question does not exist at the moment. Immediately after the unsuccessful negotiations, Nikol Pashinyan made a statement stating that the Eurasian Economic Union is de facto “paralyzed and does not work”.

Pashinyan announced. “The EAEU is a platform where I will raise all the issues related to our agenda. I will say what I said in the briefing. I said in the briefing that the EAEU is paralyzed. If the EAEU contract is not valid, the EAEU is not valid. And the EAEU is de facto paralyzed, and the paralysis shows tendencies to deepen. If this issue is not resolved quickly, I am 100% sure that the Republic of Armenia will overcome this problem, EAEU will not.”

He also said that he cannot say about the feelings of the Russian Federation.

“I can say that Russia sees a problem there. There is an element of exclusivity there too. The question is, either the relationship is exclusive or the relationship shouldn’t be. We do not accept that approach,” he stated. According to Pashinyan, Yerevan has a “legitimate position”, that is, relations with Russia are not exclusive, but there must be relations. “I ask that they approach our position with understanding and respect, especially since in practice its legitimacy is not questioned,” he emphasized.

Pashinyan also hinted that for 30 years many things have been free in Armenia, and it may happen that Armenia starts demanding 2 billion dollars a year. He said this while referring to the controversy over “South Caucasian Railways”.

In the near future, the EAEU intergovernmental session, which takes place at the level of the prime ministers, will probably be quite heated, because the statements of the RA authorities show that, without renouncing the EAEU membership, but describing the EAEU as a paralyzed structure, the RA authorities will try to use the legal and contractual opportunities of the EAEU and publicly raise the issues that concern the RA authorities.

In this context, it is noteworthy to consider Russia’s traditional approach to the interdependence of foreign policy and economy. In Moscow’s political philosophy, bilateral alliance relations and economic privileges are, as a rule, in an inseparable unity, and the tough position of the Russian leadership is due to this fact.

Yerevan’s approach to build reliable political relations with the West and maintain economic partnership with Russia, using preferential regimes, is unacceptable to the Russian leadership.

Pashinyan’s intensified rhetoric after the phone conversation shows that apparently the phone conversation did not work out for the Armenian side, the parties did not even reach an agreement to meet in the near future. At this stage, Moscow seems to expect one thing from Yerevan: to decide whether to leave the EAEU or to maintain its membership.

In this situation, the influence of external actors on the course of Armenian-Russian relations deserves special attention. In recent years, Armenia has consistently deepened its cooperation with the European Union and the United States, both in political, security, and economic directions.

That process is perceived in Moscow not as a multi-vector foreign policy, but as a strategy of gradual withdrawal from Russia’s sphere of influence. It is within the framework of this perception that the economic restrictions are considered, which can serve as a political impulse for the Russian side to show that the strategic partnership cannot be limited only to economic interests.

At the same time, Yerevan’s calculation seems to be based on the belief that EAEU treaty mechanisms and international legal instruments provide an opportunity to protect the interests of the Armenian side without leaving the organization or making a final decision on foreign policy choices.

Therefore, the coming months may become a decisive stage for Armenian-Russian relations. If the economic differences are not resolved and the political rhetoric continues to harden, the bilateral relations may gradually move into the field of a long-term systemic crisis, affecting not only trade and economic cooperation, but also regional security and integration processes.

At the same time, new negotiation attempts cannot be ruled out, as both Armenia and Russia continue to have mutual interests in the fields of energy, transport, migration and trade.

However, it is obvious that the former model of “political differences while maintaining economic cooperation” is increasingly difficult to implement, and both sides are faced with the need for strategic choices, the results of which can significantly transform not only the nature of Armenian-Russian relations, but also the general arrangement of forces in the South Caucasus.

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Emma Tsarukyan, daughter of PAP leader, philanthropist Gagik Tsarukyan, famous ophthalmologist, wrote on her social network page.

“My father didn’t get his name ready, he built it over the years. Because when they try to touch what a man has created, and people continue to remember the good he did, you understand that he has already created the most important wealth of his life.

It is not confiscated, it is not deleted. I grew up seeing how my father put years of his life, strength and soul into what he created. And today, the pain is not the fear of loss… the pain is trying to treat the creation of a lifetime as if those years never happened.

You can touch his creation, close doors, change names, try to remove a person from his own creation.
But you can’t take one thing: the trace he left. Because the greatest property of a person is not what is written on paper, but what is written in people’s memory.

And that creation is not taken away by any decision, they are not erased by any paper. Because there are things whose owner is not determined by the paper, but by time, people’s memory and God.

All this is done before the eyes of God. I know the price of what has been created over the years, I know what it means to make one’s name not only a surname, but a responsibility.

When you believe in God, you understand that the truth can sometimes be delayed in the eyes of people, but before God it is never lost. One day, these days will also become the past, today’s noise will also be silent.

And time will leave everyone next to what he did. I believe that God will open the door that people closed, and my father will continue the path in freedom, on which he still has a lot of work given by God to do.”

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Artak Zakaryan, member of the General Assembly of the RPA, former MP, writes:

We have said many times that as a result of the alien policy of Nikol’s government, Armenia will be at the center of conflicting interests of major powers. Today we can confidently say that after transferring Artsakh, which has billions of assets and is of strategic irreplaceable importance for Armenia, to the enemy, the covert government, starting from 2025, is pushing all the citizens of Armenia into a new, dangerous trap.

Now we can say that we are in that trap. Those who see and understand the situation imagine the meaning of what I am saying. Those who do not understand and cannot see think that I am exaggerating and criticizing baselessly. God be with them.

If, as can be seen from the developments, the United States fails to destabilize Iran, Russia maintains and develops its influence on the Ukrainian front, and the Western influence weakens even more in Georgia, the prospects of turning the South Caucasus into a corridor controlled by the West will become unlikely.

Iran will vehemently oppose any deal that would expand Western or pan-Turkic influence near its borders. Moscow (and in some cases also Ankara) will also try to prevent the South Caucasus from turning into a strategic base for a number of Western countries and a gateway to Central Asia.

In this sense, Azerbaijan and Georgia conduct an equal role and face-saving policy in all possible scenarios.

In the case of Armenia, the main problem is not the choice between turning to the West or maintaining ties with the Russian Federation (EAEU). The main question for trapped Armenia is whether we will be able to maintain sufficient strategic independence and control over our own territories and transit routes in order to have a significant role (value, weight) for the competing forces in the South Caucasus, while not becoming a victim of their conflict.

After the change of power, it will be extremely difficult, but it is possible and necessary. And in the case of Nikol’s government, we can consider that we are going the way of putting our state and sovereignty to the test.

The CP has already got what it wanted in the geopolitical trade, in the form of Western support in the last election. Instead, the CP will continue to satisfy foreign interests, even if it leads to conflict or new threats.

It is here that the historical parallel becomes particularly disturbing and familiar. A hundred years ago, Armenia again found itself between the clash of expanding regional powers, whose strategic ambitions ultimately determined the fate of our country. And they decided against us.

If the planned regional transformations really take place, then we risk becoming the main loser, because the principled struggle for our geographical position, in the case of Nikol’s government, will hardly leave any opportunity to make independent choices.

What shall we do? Shall we continue to applaud the deepening contradictions with the Russians, without knowing the details, should we be excited by the TRIPP project, should we naively believe that the Turks and Azerbaijanis have planned a peaceful life for us, should we ignore the threatening developments in the Middle East, should we unconditionally believe in the Russians or Europeans, or should we collect our minds and get serious? with the problems of our country.

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168․amAccording to the information of YSU Faculty of Law, Gagik Ghazinyan, former dean of the Faculty of Law, now a lecturer, was notified that Yerevan State University will not extend his employment contract. he will be fired from his job as a lecturer.

Gagik Ghazinyan’s scientific and pedagogical path is more than half a century. he is a doctor of legal sciences, professor, academician of the National Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Armenia (the only one in RA in the field of law), YSU professor-emeritus, foreign member of the Russian Academy of Education, honored lawyer of the Republic of Armenia, president of the Union of Lawyers of the Republic of Armenia.

According to our source, although the notice letter was sent from YSU, no justification was presented about the reasons for this decision. But it is not difficult to assume that the reasons are political. Gagik Ghazinyan’s son is Davit Ghazinyan, a member of the “Strong Armenia” party.

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Forbesreferred to Azerbaijan’s anti-aircraft defense capabilities.

In particular, the article of the American military analyst Paul Idon states that against the background of the American-Israeli war against Iran, Azerbaijan is strengthening its air defense system, continuing the large-scale modernization of its armed forces and is not saving anything or making “economies” for this.

In this context, the analyst did not ignore the fact that Baku ordered JF-17 fighter jets from Pakistan, noting that in May 2025, Azerbaijan increased the order from 16 units to 40, according to which the value of the supply contract increased from 1.6 billion dollars to 4.2 billion dollars, which is considered the largest deal in the history of Pakistan.

About a month ago 168.amthe wrote that the JF-17C (Block III) Pakistani-Chinese fighter jets have already added to the arsenal of the Azerbaijani army, and even the aviation units of the Azerbaijani Air Force using them spent training exercises.

From the footage of the training flights published by the Ministry of Defense of Azerbaijan, it became clear that at least 7 units of JF-17 fighters were acquired. They were stationed at the Nasosnaya (Arabic: Nasosnı aviabazası) military air base, which is located not far from the city of Sumgait.

And in the context of the purchase of these fighters, Azerbaijan is carrying out large-scale construction and infrastructure modernization works. In particular, with different information՝ new hangars were built for the protection and maintenance of modern aircraft, and modern infrastructure was created.

What are the long-term goals of Baku’s purchase of JF-17 fighter jets from Pakistan and to what extent are they related to Armenia, we have detailed in one of our articles. we have touched on:

And the American military analyst Paul Idon in his analysis also spoke about the Chinese long-range HQ-9BE anti-aircraft missile complexes, which Azerbaijan demonstrated for the first time at the military exhibition organized in November 2025.

Later we wrote that Baku’s propaganda machine considered the Chinese anti-aircraft systems used in Iran as “useless”, including the HQ-9BE, which Azerbaijan was proud of during the military parade. However, the American columnist notes that the Chinese HQ-9BE anti-aircraft missile complex purchased by Baku, which, by the way, has been created based on the base of the Russian S-300, the Russian S-300PMU-2 in the arsenal (modernized of what Armenia has is the option) together with the Belarusian “Buk-MB” and Israeli “Barak MX” systems, formed the multi-layered air defense system of the country.

We are still 2-3 years away to write that Azerbaijan will acquire “Barak MX” air defense systems from Israel, the price of the deal at that time, according to various sources, was estimated at about 1.2 billion dollars. And about the testing of “Barak 8” by Azerbaijan? were talking back in 2016.

“Near the end of the 2020 Artsakh war, as reported, one of these missiles intercepted the Russian-made 9K720 Iskander ballistic missile of the Armenian side.”

“In the early 2010s, Baku bought a number of powerful systems from Russia and Israel. In particular, in 2011, within the framework of the deal valued at about 300 million dollars, he purchased from Russia two modern S-300PMU-2 anti-aircraft missile systems, as well as about 200 units of 48H6 missiles.

Around the same time, Baku ordered its first Barak anti-aircraft missile system from Israel, as well as 40 Barak LRAD (up to 70 km) and 40 Barak-ER (up to 150 km) missiles in a 1.6 billion deal.

How? reported Near the end of the war that started in Artsakh in September 2020, the ballistic missile launched by the Armenian side from the Russian operational-tactical missile complex “Iskander” was successfully intercepted with the help of the Israeli “Barak” anti-aircraft missile system. writes American military analyst Paul Idon.

There are still undisclosed episodes related to the use or not of “Iskander” by the Armenian side during the 44-day war. And the fact that Baku prepared for a long time before the 44-day war also in terms of weapons acquisitions is indisputable.

By the way, on time «Bulgarian military»had spread information that Armenia shows special interest in the “Barak 8” anti-aircraft missile complex, which is a joint project of India and Israel and is also known as the LR-SAM or MR-SAM system. It is not known how true this information was.

Let’s go back to the publication in Forbes and add that American military analyst Paul Idon notes that Baku continues to diversify its arms acquisition policy, buying military equipment from Pakistan, China, Israel, Russia, Belarus, etc.

Moreover, he does not rule out that Azerbaijan may acquire Ukrainian anti-drone systems in the future.

It should be noted that months ago the leaders of Azerbaijan and Ukraine discussed the prospects of joint release of defense products.

And Azerbaijan, as a matter of fact, is trying to diversify also in terms of armament modernization. In particular, 168.amthe wrote that Azerbaijan has decided to cooperate also with the Georgian company engaged in the modernization of Su-25 fighters, it is already using the modernized ones through Turkey.

We know that Armenia has also adopted the policy of diversification of armaments, and, perhaps, is trying to combine, for example, the Russian air defense equipment in the arsenal of the RA Armed Forces with those acquired from other countries. It might work. But this is a separate topic for discussion.

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In order to organize army games this year, the Ministry of Education and Culture has allocated 54 million 381,600 drams to the organizing LLC. We learn about this from the contract signed recently and made public in the electronic procurement system. By the way, the grant was mentioned as a purchase procedure. In other words, the allocation was, in fact, made without a tender.

As we learn from the technical specifications of the contract, the price includes: purchase of souvenirs, cups, t-shirts, hats, participation certificates and flags, poster printing, accommodation (overnight stay and food) for the teams, transportation services in the territory of the Republic of Armenia, flowers for the 1st, 2nd and 3rd place athletes and guests/women, filming of the tournament, advertising about the tournament and other components.

the event, which has been traditionally held for several years, this time it will take place on August 2-4.

And now about the company chosen by KGSMN, “Events Service” LLC. According to the data of the register of legal entities, this LLC is presented under the name “VS Group” in the document on beneficial owners. The registered address is house 37, Nzhdeh street, Stepanavan city. Although this company was founded in 2014, it belongs to Dianna Sargsyan since 2018. And by an interesting coincidence, right after the acquisition, this company begins to take an active part in state procurement. Starting from 2019, the company has signed many contracts worth millions of drams with government agencies through various procurement procedures, including without a tender.

Now about another coincidence. Since the start of the event, the Army Games Ministry exclusively trusts the companies registered in Stepanavan. Let’s note that the ruling team also trusted the army to Stepanavan’s teammate Suren Papikyan.

But about this in more detail. so

in 2023 army games tournament had organized “Lore Group” LLC (Stepanavan, CHARENTSI P., 122), which is a part of Vladimir Gevorgyan’s family business. And we remember how actively Gevorgyan participates in state elections, especially after 2018. By 2023, these games had cost the state around 43 million drams.

2024 թվականին՝ “Splayer” LLC, which, according to the data of the register of legal entities, was registered on March 29, 2024, 100 percent of the company’s share belongs to Aram Margaryan. The location of LLC is the city of Lori, Marz Address: 106 A, Charents Street, Stepanavan. In 2024, the Games were targeted 61 million 20,200 drams.

in 2025 the conduct of these games was entrusted to Ruzanna Movsisyan Vanik P.V., whose registration address is indicated Stepanavan, house 87, Charentsi street. 54 million 314.200 drams were allocated to the organization of the games by the same procedure.

In 2026, as we already informed, “Event Service” LLC-“VS Group” was entrusted with the implementation of the event, and the address of the company was indicated in the city 37 Garegin Nzhdeh House, Stepanavan. 54 million 381,600 drams and this year it was directed to the games.

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It seemed that the opposition forces should try to activate their activities before the newly formed parliament.

However, during this period, it seems that there is a holiday mood in political life. no force presents a new agenda or initiative yet.

Maybe it’s due to the summer heat and people going on vacation, but it would be great if this post-election period was used to shape public sentiments and work more actively with the opposition and neutral public.

Details in the video

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Regardless of what attitude we have towards the methodology of the opposition’s activities over the past years, we must admit that they are working in a very difficult situation, not only in terms of the internal, but also the external environment. This circumstance is very important from the point of view of shaping the social and political internal atmosphere and environment in Armenia. The main thing for the opposition is not to remain “uncompromised”, but how it will continue to work with the public according to the logic with which it worked during the pre-election months. 168TVof « expressed such an opinion during the program political analyst Hakob Badalyan.

“If we think that someone will start cooperating with the government, openly or indirectly, they can always find someone, with or without a mandate. The important thing is not how they will work in the parliament, whether they will change the government through the National Assembly or not, but how they will work with society, in other words, in the citizens’ homes. Now there is a lot of talk about changing the government through the parliament or on the street, but the government should first of all be changed in the citizens’ homes by talking to people and changing their ideas and expectations about the situation and the future,” said the analyst.

“The months of the pre-election period gave their certain result, and the government was defeated. The opposition did not win the election, but the government lost, at least to itself, the result of 2021. It was the result of the work of the opposition in the previous months, which differed from the methodical point of view, for example, from the previous 4-5 years.

The opposition lost time in the parliament as a result of working in confrontation mode with the government. It was necessary not to consider that confrontation and to be more convincing and victorious there as the main thing, but to forget the government and work with the public,” said the public figure.

According to Badalyan, in addition to its own electorate, the opposition should also work to expand that electorate, and not just from the point of view of getting voters.

“The environment, ideas about the future must be changed, and that is the logic of changing the government, to form a government of a new agenda. Through it, it is already possible to change the political situation, and any government, regardless of whether it feels confident or not, cannot ignore this reality. The mandate of the parliament should serve that as a tool. It is not necessary to create unnecessary expectations among people regarding this mandate. That mandate should be used for foreign political work as well.”

“The government does not hesitate to act with repressive logic, there are many difficult problems before the opposition.

It should communicate its own political agenda to change the paradigm that the government is trying to maintain. If we expect that they should listen to the Armenian opposition in other centers, they have absolutely no intention of listening to complaints about the behavior of the Armenian government. They know this behavior very well, and there is nothing unknown to them that the Armenian opposition can present,” Hakob Badalyan said.

Details in the video

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