PRAGUE — Armenia has not set a goal to sever relations with Moscow or to expel the Russian military base from its territory, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan stated during the GLOBSEC 2025 forum in the Czech Republic, while addressing questions about Armenia’s potential membership in the European Union.
“You know we have a complex situation in our region. You mentioned the presence of Russian troops in Armenia. But I want to point out that there is also a European Union monitoring mission in Armenia, which is observing the border situation with Azerbaijan. On one hand, over the past year, we have reduced the presence of Russian forces. On the other hand, we have no current objective to eliminate that presence entirely. Our main priority is to establish lasting and stable peace with the countries in our region,” Pashinyan said.
During a panel discussion with the participation of the President of Serbia and the former foreign ministers of Slovakia and Austria, Pashinyan emphasized that Armenia is balancing its foreign policy and has close cooperation with the European Union. Referring to Armenia’s possible full membership in the EU, he stated that “nothing is holding Armenia back,” referencing the recently adopted law initiating the EU accession process. However, he also noted that it is still too early to formally apply for full membership.
“Our aim is not just to join the EU for the sake of it; it is an additional motivation to continue and implement our democratic agenda. We hope that when the time comes for us to submit an application for full EU membership, it will be based on merit—because we will have implemented comprehensive and deep democratic reforms,” Pashinyan emphasized.
He also stressed that Armenia understands it cannot remain a member of both the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) and the EU indefinitely, and that a decision will eventually need to be made.
Pashinyan additionally spoke about the necessity of signing a peace agreement with Azerbaijan:
“Recently, we managed to conclude negotiations with Azerbaijan positively regarding the draft of the peace agreement. The draft has been bilaterally agreed upon. Now it is time to sign the agreement, and we are in discussions with Azerbaijan on how to move forward to that point and sign the peace accord.”
It has been 2.5 months since the draft was agreed upon, but Baku continues to refuse to sign the agreement, citing preconditions such as amending Armenia’s Constitution—which Azerbaijan interprets as containing territorial claims—and the formal dissolution of the OSCE Minsk Group.
