ASTANA: Armenia should hold a referendum on EU membership &quot;as soon as possible&quot;, President Vladimir Putin and three Russian-allied leaders said in a statement Friday, escalating pressure on Yerevan over its deepening ties with Brussels. Armenia is formally allied with Moscow, but has been building ties with the European Union for years amid frustration over Russia&#39;s perceived failure to protect it during conflicts with neighbouring Azerbaijan. The Caucasus country froze its security ties with Moscow in 2024, and last year passed a law declaring its intention to seek EU membership, further angering Russia. Armenia is still a member of the Eurasian Economic Union, the Russian-led customs union. Putin said it was time for Armenia to choose between the EU and the Eurasian Economic Union, insisting it was &ldquo;impossible to reconcile the two&rdquo;. &quot;Prime Minister (Nikol) Pashinyan himself said that he considers it right to hold a referendum on this issue, on where Armenia should position itself: in the Eurasian Union or in the European Union. We would like this to be done as soon as possible,&quot; Putin said at a press conference in Kazakhstan, where he was attending a summit. In a joint statement issued earlier at the summit, Putin and the leaders of Belarus, Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan warned Armenia&#39;s moves to join the EU posed &quot;significant risks&quot; to the economy of Eurasian Economic Union member states. &quot;We share the position on the need to hold a national referendum in the Republic of Armenia as soon as possible on joining the European Union or remaining part of the Eurasian Economic Union,&quot; the statement said. Armenia did not immediately comment on the move. &ldquo;Whatever decisions are made, this will not damage our humanitarian ties, it will not damage our political ties,&rdquo; Putin said. Under Pashinyan, Armenia has formally pursued a strategy of what he calls &quot;diversification&quot;, in which the landlocked country pursues ties with both Russia and the West.

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Central Asia

Russia and three allied states urge Armenia to hold a referendum on EU membership, arguing it must choose between closer integration with Europe or remaining in the Russian-led Eurasian Economic Union.

Armenia should hold EU referendum soon, Putin and allies say

ISTANBUL: Turkiye and Armenia will formally resume trade relations after a 33-year freeze as part of a rapprochement between the two countries, a Turkish foreign ministry spokesman said on Wednesday. Turkiye shut its border with Armenia in 1993 in support of its ally Azerbaijan, which was at war with Armenia over Karabakh. Turkiye&nbsp;and Armenia have been cautiously moving towards rapprochement since late 2021, a year after Armenia was defeated by Azerbaijan in a fresh conflict over that disputed territory. &quot;Within the framework of our normalisation process with Armenia that has been ongoing since 2022... the bureaucratic preparations regarding the initiation of direct trade between our country and Armenia have been completed as of May 11,&quot; foreign ministry spokesman Oncu Keceli said on X. Trade had already been passing between Turkiye and Armenia via Georgia, with taxes imposed in the transit country. But under the new regulation, goods can be formally designated as direct exports from Turkiye to Armenia, with the origin and final destination listed as being in those countries. Trade will continue to transit through an unspecified third country due to the lack of a functional border crossing. &quot;The necessary technical and bureaucratic work toward opening the common border between the two countries is still ongoing,&quot; the spokesman said. Turkiye&nbsp;and Armenia also share a border with Iran. Armenia welcomed Turkiye&#39;s decision &quot;to lift the bans on bilateral trade with Armenia&quot;, its foreign ministry spokesperson said in a statement. The spokesperson described it as an &quot;important step towards the development of full-fledged and normal relations between the two countries&quot;. Ankara&#39;s latest announcement marks a new step toward normalisation between Ankara and Yerevan after Azerbaijan&#39;s seizure of Karabakh, which saw most of the Armenian population leave. Last month, Armenia and Turkiye decided to put the Kars-Gyumri railway line back into service on both sides of their border. Turkiye&#39;s&nbsp;national carrier, Turkish Airlines, operated its first direct flight between Istanbul and Yerevan in March. But the two sides remain divided over history. The Armenians say 1.5 million of their people were killed under the Ottoman Empire from 1915 to 1917 and seek international recognition that it was genocide. Turkiye&nbsp;strongly denies the accusation of genocide and disputes the numbers, saying that the Armenians were among hundreds of thousands of people who died in the turmoil of World War I as the Ottoman Empire disintegrated.

Middle East

Turkiye, Armenia resume formal trade relations after 33 years amid normalization efforts between longtime rivals

Articles tagged with "Armenia"

Armenia should hold EU referendum soon, Putin and allies say

Turkiye and Armenia to restart direct trade: Ankara

Armenia should hold EU referendum soon, Putin and allies say