Russian authorities announced Saturday that they have recalled their ambassador to Armenia for consultations in protest of its rapprochement with the European Union.

Officially affiliated with Russia, the Caucasian nation of about 3 million people has deepened ties with the West in recent years, despite its economic dependence on Moscow.

“The ambassador of the Russian Federation to the Republic of Armenia, Sergei Kopyrkin, has been summoned to Moscow for consultations on with the steps taken by the Armenian leadership towards rapprochement with the European Union,” said a statement from the Russian Foreign Ministry.

The Russian-led Eurasian Economic Union also announced on Friday that it would consider suspending Armenia due to its application for EU membership.

In opinion polls for the June elections, the Party of pro-Western Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan leads, trailing the pro-Russian opposition. US President Donald Trump has backed Pashinyan, who came to power after a 2018 revolution and was re-elected in 2021, Reuters writes.

Armenia says Russia failed to protect him during fighting with neighboring Azerbaijan, with whom it has long been at odds over Nagorno-Karabakh, a former separatist region with an ethnic Armenian population that Azerbaijan has reclaimed. in 2023.

Russia says that Western countries are interfering in Armenia in order to weaken Russian influence in the former Soviet Union.

Source: prizrenpost