Pashinyan calls Armenia’s relations with EAEU a challenge
Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan described the country’s current relations with the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) as a challenge at a cabinet meeting on October 22, 2026, Sputnik Armenia reports. He said economic activity in Armenia was fairly strong. The government would continue working on relations within the EAEU, he said. Its policies would support economic momentum and strengthen the country’s sovereignty and independence. Pashinyan also said economic ties were becoming more diversified and that the available data offered grounds for hope that this process would continue.
In March 2025, Armenia’s parliament passed a law launching the country’s EU accession process. According to Sputnik Armenia’s account of a Eurasian Intergovernmental Council report, this course could lead to a clash between the EU and EAEU legal frameworks.
Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexey Overchuk warned of risks associated with changes to technical regulations. Speaking to reporters on May 11, Nikol Pashinyan said a referendum on joining the EU would be possible only if there were an “objective need”.
The Eurasian Intergovernmental Council report from Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan examines the consequences of suspending the application of the EAEU treaty to Armenia. Publications about the report include scenario-based estimates of potential declines in GDP, trade and exports, as well as a rise in inflation.
Summing up the EAEU summit in Astana, Russian President Vladimir Putin said leaving the union could cost Armenia 14% of its GDP. According to Sputnik Armenia, citing statistical data, the country would lose almost 40% of its trade turnover if it left. These estimates concern withdrawal from the EAEU, whereas the report addresses the suspension of the treaty’s application.