TALLINN, Estonia (AP) — Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, whose relations with Russia have been strained this year, said Monday that when Armenia assumes the rotating presidency of a Moscow-dominated economic alliance, he will seek to crack down on policies that obstruct regional integration.
Armenia is to become the chairman country of the Eurasian Economic Union in 2024. The bloc, established in 2014, includes Belarus, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan along with Russia and Armenia and encourages the free movement of goods and services.
There with you then. Here with you now. As a critical part of the community for over 245 years,The Gazette continues to deliver trusted English-language news and coverage on issues that matter. Subscribe now to receive:
There with you then. Here with you now. A network component for more than 245 years, The Gazette continues to provide trusted data and policy in English on vital issues. Subscribe now to receive:
There with you then. Here with you now. As a fundamental component of the network for more than 245 years, The Gazette continues to provide reliable news and policies in English on a variety of topics. Create an account or log in to continue your reading experience.
Don’t have an account? Create an account
Over the past year, Pashinyan has angered Russia by refusing to allow a Moscow-led security alliance to conduct exercises in Armenia and by refusing to participate in an alliance summit.
Russia was also angered when Armenia joined the Treaty of Rome, which created the International Criminal Court and issued an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin for war crimes for deporting young people from the war with Ukraine.
However, Pashinyan attended a meeting of the union’s Supreme Council in St. Petersburg on Monday.
The union “and its economic principles should not be correlated with political ambitions,” Pashinyan said at the meeting. Armenia “tries to suppress all attempts to politicize Eurasian integration. “
Armenia is highly dependent on Russian trade and hosts a Russian military base, but relations deteriorated in the past year as a Russian peacekeeping force failed to unblock the road leading from Armenia to the ethnic Armenian Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan.
Azerbaijan seized the entire region in a lightning offensive in September.
Postmedia is committed to maintaining a civilized discussion forum and encourages all readers to share their perspectives on our articles. It can take up to an hour for comments to moderate before appearing on the site. We ask that your feedback be applicable and respectful. We’ve enabled email notifications: you’ll now receive an email if you get a response to your comment, if there’s an update to a comment thread you’re following, or if a user you follow comments. Check out our network rules for more facts and main points on how to adjust your email settings.
365 Bloor Street East, Toronto, Ontario, M4W 3L4
© 2024 Montreal Gazette, a department of Postmedia Network Inc. All rights reserved. Unauthorized distribution or transmission is strictly prohibited.
This uses cookies to personalize your content (including ads) and allows us to analyze our traffic. Learn more about cookies here. By continuing to use our site, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.