Russia hopes Armenia stays in EAEU rather than pursues EU integration, Peskov says

The Kremlin has said it hopes its “fraternal” Armenia will eventually choose to stay within the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) instead of pursuing potential EU integration.

“We see that Armenia, the leadership of Armenia, is now standing at a crossroads,” the Russian state news agency TASS quoted Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov as saying.

“The leadership of Armenia is speaking about the path of future development. This is important for us, because for many centuries Russia and Armenia have been neighboring, fraternal countries.”

Peskov said he hopes that Yerevan will ultimately choose in favor of the Eurasian Economic Union, claiming that this integration process is “significantly” more beneficial than Armenia’s possible accession to the European Union.

“We are convinced that the Eurasian Economic Union makes a significant contribution to the growth of Armenia’s GDP every year. And we are convinced that, by all qualitative characteristics, our integration process is significantly superior to other alternatives. We hope that, first and foremost, the Armenian people, as well as the current leadership of Armenia, will, after analyzing the situation, come to the same conclusion,” Peskov said.

The Armenian parliament adopted a bill in 2025 calling on the government to launch the process of EU accession.

Armenia, a member of the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU), was recently informed by its EAEU partners—Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan—that they would like to see a referendum in Armenia on whether to remain in the EAEU or withdraw and move toward the European Union.

These developments come amid growing ties between Armenia and the EU, which Yerevan says do not contradict its EAEU membership at this stage.

Russia’s narrative regarding the incompatibility of the Armenian authorities’ actions has intensified.

Responding to the referendum proposal, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said on June 1 that there are currently no grounds for holding such a vote, as Armenia’s European integration process is not yet at a stage where citizens can be presented with a clear choice.

“Until the point when Armenia has either officially applied for EU membership or is very close to obtaining candidate status, holding any referendum would be unreasonable,” Pashinyan said.

According to him, such a choice remains theoretical at this stage.

“Today, that choice is theoretical, and putting a theoretical choice to a referendum is, of course, neither very sensible nor justified,” the prime minister said.