Armenia Set to Pursue EU Membership Bid in Landmark Break From Moscow

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan announced Monday that his government will begin preparations to formally seek European Union membership, marking a dramatic realignment for the South Caucasus nation after decades inside Moscow's sphere of influence.

Addressing parliament and the nation, Pashinyan laid out a step-by-step path: Yerevan will submit its application in the near future, await the bloc's response, negotiate an accession roadmap with Brussels, and only afterward put the question of joining the EU to voters in a national referendum.

The announcement escalates a confrontation with the Russia-led Collective Security Treaty Organisation (CSTO), of which Armenia remains a member. Months earlier, fellow alliance members had pressed Yerevan to choose between staying in the pact or pursuing EU integration through a public vote. At the time, the prime minister dismissed such a decision as premature, as the Kremlin imposed sweeping economic pressure on the country and President Vladimir Putin openly warned of a "Ukrainian scenario" should Yerevan pursue both paths, which Moscow deems incompatible.

On Monday, however, Pashinyan struck a different tone, saying he would welcome it if the alliance expelled his country outright. Such a move, he argued, would at least spare Armenia the dilemma of deciding whether to withdraw. He stressed nonetheless that Armenia intends to stay in the CSTO for now, until choosing between the two alignments becomes impossible to avoid.

Reflecting on the relationship, Pashinyan noted that for roughly two centuries Russia had been regarded as the ultimate guarantor of Armenian statehood and security. Yet the upheavals of 2021 through 2023, he said, exposed how Moscow's own troubles can severely constrain its ability to play that role — a pointed reference to Russia's failure to intervene during Armenia's clashes with Azerbaijan over Karabakh. "We have failed to learn the lessons of our history," he said, reiterating a criticism he has voiced repeatedly since Azerbaijan's offensive ended Armenian control of the region.

Armenia and Azerbaijan signed a peace framework in August 2025, opening a new chapter of economic cooperation between the longtime adversaries, backed by significant engagement from the EU and the United States. In a further challenge to Russian dominance, Pashinyan also urged Moscow on Monday to surrender its railway concession in Armenia, which runs until 2038, so the country can link its network to international corridors, with Kazakhstan and the United Arab Emirates floated as potential investors.

Moscow reacted quickly. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov cautioned that aligning Armenia's economy with EU standards could produce what he called deep trade contradictions that would hurt Armenians first and foremost. On the CSTO question, he said Yerevan was free to walk away if membership no longer served its national interests — remarks suggesting a rocky road ahead for the two former close allies.