Armenia’s accelerated rapprochement with the European Union (EU) will have a negative impact both on allied relations with Russia and on the development of integration processes across the post-Soviet space as a whole, said Vladislav Maslennikov, Director of the Russian Foreign Ministry’s Department for European Issues, in an interview with TASS, APA reports.
Commenting on Yerevan’s intention to join the EU, Maslennikov noted that, considering the rapid transformation of the organization into an aggressive military-political bloc and its strategic course aimed at confrontation with Russia, Armenia's interest in membership in this organization cannot but be a cause for concern.
“We hope that Armenia, a member of the Eurasian Economic Union, will understand the potentially negative consequences of accelerated rapprochement with Brussels both for our allied relations and for the development of integration processes in the post-Soviet space,” Maslennikov stressed.
At the same time, the head of the Russian Foreign Ministry’s Department for European Issues once again emphasized that the Russian side respects the sovereign right of other states to participate in integration associations, as well as their “desire to gain additional opportunities for economic development and improving the well-being of their population.” However, according to him, the Armenian leadership is “sending clear signals that it is interested in maximum rapprochement with the European Union.” Maslennikov recalled that as part of these efforts, in April 2025, the country’s President Vahagn Khachaturyan signed the law “On the Start of the Process of Armenia’s Accession to the European Union,” which had previously been approved by parliament.
According to Maslennikov, Brussels has already begun actively imposing a transition to EU standards on Yerevan on political grounds; this transition fundamentally does not take into account Armenia’s membership in the Eurasian Economic Union and the related obligations.
“The fact remains a fact: simultaneous membership in the Eurasian Economic Union and the European Union is, by definition, impossible,” the diplomat concluded.
