Armenian PM, Russian Deputy PM Discuss Bilateral Relations and Economic Cooperation

YEREVAN — Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan met with Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexey Overchuk in Yerevan on Friday.

During the meeting, the two officials discussed various issues related to the bilateral agenda between Armenia and Russia. They also addressed topics concerning cooperation within the framework of the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU).

Overchuk held a separate meeting with Deputy Prime Minister Mher Grigoryan, co-head of the Russian-Armenian intergovernmental commission on economic cooperation. They were joined by several officials from both countries at a subsequent meeting. A Russian government statement said they focused on the “implementation of joint projects in the fields of industry, energy, transport and logistics, finance, and investment.”

The statement did not specify whether these projects include the planned construction of a highway and a railway that would connect Azerbaijan to its Nakhichevan exclave through Armenia’s strategic Syunik province. Overchuk and Grigoryan also co-chair, along with an Azerbaijani vice-premier, a trilateral working group tasked with working out the practical modalities of these transport links.

Speaking during the meeting with Grigoryan, Overchuk emphasized that Russian-Armenian ties continue to deepen “in all sectors of the economy.”

“Figures and facts speak louder than words,” the Russian statement quoted him as saying. “In 2023, bilateral trade between Russia and Armenia grew by 55.8 percent, reaching $7.4 billion. This year, growth has accelerated. In the first half of this year alone, trade turnover between our countries amounted to $8.4 billion.”

Overchuk also highlighted the broader economic benefits of Armenia’s membership in the EEU. He noted that the South Caucasus nation’s GDP per capita has more than doubled since joining the Russian-led trade bloc in 2015.

One of the Russian officials accompanying Overchuk on the trip, Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Galuzin, claimed in June that the West will eventually pressure Armenia to leave the EEU. He warned that bowing to such pressure would mean “losing the main [export] market for Armenian business.”