Armenians Should Prepare for ‘Several Cold Winters,’ Lavrov on Yerevan’s Aspirations for EU Membership

Moscow intensified its criticism of Yerevan’s efforts to garner membership in the European Union, with Russia’s Foreign Minister, Sergey Lavrov, signaling that Armenia’s population should prepare for “several cold winters.”
The comments were made during a press conference held on Friday, with the foreign ministry issuing a verbatim readout of Lavrov’s responses.
When Lavrov met Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan in Moscow last week, his comments, during a joint press conference, were more tempered. However, answering questions from Russian journalists on Friday, Russia’s top diplomat outlined that Armenia’s survival essentially depended on Russia and the security and economic coalitions, of which Armenia is a member, it leads.
“Russian-Armenian relations are going through a difficult period. This is largely a consequence of the actions of the West, which last year increased pressure on Armenia, incited it to destroy traditional ties with Russia, and imposed values orientations that are foreign to the Armenian people,” Lavrov explained.
“Unfortunately, the republic often reacted favorably to the unsubstantiated promises of the United States and the European Union as a replacement for Russia for Armenia,” added Lavrov.
He asserted, however, that the Russia-led Collective Security Treaty Organization is “the cornerstone of Armenia’s security,” adding that Armenia’s membership in the Eurasian Economic Union “is the guarantor of its economic well-being.”
“We have repeatedly informed our Armenian colleagues that neither Washington nor Brussels really think about the fate and interests of their partners. The West is accustomed to perceiving them in an exclusively utilitarian way. Yerevan could not help but pay attention to the events that unfolded in Georgia at the end of last year,” Lavrov said, referring to the more pro-Russia political slant adopted by Tbilisi that resulted in EU sanctions.
“Probably, they have heard in Armenia the much-talked-about sarcastic statements about the ‘low cost’ to Europeans for the ‘project’ to ‘detach’ Yerevan from Moscow,” Lavrov said, adding that they have also heard “the advice to the Armenian population to be prepared for ‘several cold winters.’”
He pointed to a recent political assessment by Stratfor, a leading geopolitical intelligence platform, which this month forecasted that the new administration in Washington is not likely to have the same interest in Armenia as the previous one.
“Moscow has always valued and continues to value its fraternal relations with Yerevan. We consider the republic one of our natural strategic partners and allies. We are committed to the entire range of agreements with Armenia in the trade, economic and military-political spheres, formalized at the bilateral level and within the framework of common integration associations,” Lavrov explained.
The top Russian diplomat also emphasized that Moscow does not have a “hidden agenda” or clandestine “projects” that would “have a detrimental effect on the security or economic well-being of Armenia.”
Lavrov said that bilateral trade indicators economic cooperation attest to Moscow’s commitment to bolstering ties with Yerevan, adding that trade turnover in 2024 “set an absolute record.”
“By the way,” Lavrov said, “the volume of Armenia’s trade with the EU and the U.S., which are calling on Armenia to abandon the Russian market, is many times smaller and is also experiencing a decline,” he pointed out.
“We highly appreciate the results of Armenia’s chairmanship in the EAEU bodies in 2024,” the Russian foreign minister said. “There is no doubt that Armenia’s participation in Eurasian integration has largely ensured the rapid growth of its gross domestic product in recent years.”
“At the same time, we are forced to emphasize again: Eurasian economic integration and membership in the European Union are incompatible,” Lavrov stressed.