Russian President Vladimir Putin phoned Armenian President Nikol Pashinyan today, with birthday greetings, and a conversation following the Eurasian Economic Union heads of state Council which ended May 29 in Kazakhstan. At that meeting, the case of Armenia was discussed by the leaders, which included the heads of state of four of the five EAEU member nations. Pashinyan sent his Deputy Prime Minister Mher Grigoryan.
Pashinyan, who is making moves in the direction of joining the EU in a direct threat not only to its membership in the EAEU, but also to its extensive relationship with Russia, said he was tied up with the June 7 elections and could go to Kazakhstan.
In recent months, Armenia has been targetted by a stream of Western visitors proffering rewards for veering West, including U.S. Vice President JD Vance, the EU’s Ursula von der Leyen, and Ukraine’s acting President Zelensky. Pashinyan has also played into the Trump game of enlisting in TRIPP (Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity), taking control over the 27-mile transport and pipeline corridor, running through southern Armenia, as the Zangezur route from Azerbaijan to Turkiye, in a way to allow the United States to replace Russian forces in patrol the critical corridor.
The leaders at the EAEU meeting had called on the Armenian president to hold a referendum on the issue of whether Amenians wanted to stay in the EAEU, or leave, and go to the EU. EAEU leaders are fairly confident that Armenian voters would not want to abandon the economic existence they have in the EAEU. Putin has indicated that Armenia could not be a member of the EAEU if it decided to apply for EU membership.
