‘I’m Not Soviet Armenia’s Communist Party Chief’ – Pashinyan Pushes Back on Moscow
In brief: Pashinyan mocked suggestions that Moscow had “summoned” him or could force Armenia to hold a referendum on choosing between the EU and the Russia-led EAEU. His response follows Armenia’s suspension of participation in Moscow’s military alliance, deepening ties with Europe and the US, resistance to Russian economic pressure and a decisive electoral defeat for pro-Russian parties.
In this pool photograph distributed by the Russian state agency Sputnik, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan attends a SCO+ format meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit in Bishkek on September 1, 2026. (Photo by Vyacheslav PROKOFYEV / POOL / AFP)
He said the phrasing made him sound like the first secretary of Soviet Armenia’s Communist Party, an official expected to answer to Moscow.
“How can Armenia be forced to hold a referendum?” Pashinyan asked. “I want to understand how that is possible.”
His sarcasm carried a clear political message: Armenia may eventually have to choose between European integration and continued membership in Russia’s economic bloc, but the Kremlin will not dictate the question, timing or answer.
Putin demands a choice
The disagreement spilled into public view during a Sept. 1 meeting between Putin and Pashinyan on the sidelines of a regional summit in Bishkek.
Putin acknowledged Armenia’s sovereign right to pursue EU membership but warned that simultaneous membership in the EU and the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) would be incompatible.
Armenia’s 2025 legislation launching a process of European integration “essentially amounts to an announcement of withdrawal” from the EAEU, Putin argued. He demanded clarity from Yerevan “as soon as possible” and proposed putting the choice directly to Armenian voters.
Pashinyan rejected that premise.
Armenia has not formally applied to join the EU, received candidate status, agreed on an accession roadmap or opened membership negotiations. It has also not issued the six months’ notice required to leave the EAEU.
Pashinyan said Armenia would hold a referendum only when a concrete proposal existed and voters had an actual question to answer.
“We are not going to take people to polling stations for the sake of it when there is neither a question nor an answer,” he said.
Break from Moscow over Nagorno-Karabakh
Armenia was once among Russia’s closest formal allies. It hosts a Russian military base, remains a member of the Russia-led Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), and is deeply connected to Russian trade, energy and transport networks.
The relationship began to fracture after Azerbaijan regained control of Nagorno-Karabakh in 2023. Russian peacekeepers failed to prevent the takeover, leaving many Armenians feeling abandoned by the country that was supposed to guarantee their security.
“Many Armenians concluded that Russia was either unwilling or unable to protect its closest regional ally,” Russian opposition activist Daniil Chebykin, who lives in Yerevan, previously told Kyiv Post.
Armenia subsequently froze its participation in the CSTO, strengthened relations with the EU and the US and expanded contacts with Ukraine through humanitarian assistance. In 2026, Yerevan hosted the European Political Community summit attended by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and European leaders.
As Kyiv Post previously reported, Armenia represents the clearest example of Russia’s declining influence across its former sphere. Unlike countries that had always maintained greater distance from Moscow, Armenia began its pivot as a treaty ally deeply embedded in Russian-led institutions. Especially in light of the Russia-Ukraine war, which showed Yerevan the limits of Moscow’s real military power.
The shift received electoral approval.
In Armenia’s June parliamentary election, Pashinyan’s Civil Contract party won nearly half the vote and secured a parliamentary majority. Its two principal Russia-aligned rivals together received approximately one-third.
The result weakened Moscow’s claim that Armenia’s turn away from Russia was merely Pashinyan’s personal project.
Moscow still has leverage
Armenia has not severed ties because Russia still accounts for roughly one-third of its foreign trade, or approximately one dollar in every three. Putin said bilateral trade reached $2.5 billion during the first half of 2026.
Moscow has repeatedly demonstrated its ability to disrupt that trade. Russia has restricted imports of Armenian fruit, vegetables, flowers, fish and alcohol, forcing Pashinyan to raise the issue directly with Putin.
Russian officials have also threatened Armenia’s access to subsidized gas and other EAEU benefits if Yerevan continues moving toward Europe.
These dependencies explain why Pashinyan is building alternatives before making a final choice. His government is deepening Western ties, pursuing new transport routes and challenging Russian control over critical Armenian infrastructure.
A railway dispute discussed in Bishkek illustrates this approach.
Armenia’s railway network has been operated since 2008 under a 30-year concession by South Caucasus Railway, a company wholly owned by Russian Railways. Pashinyan said freight traffic had fallen by half, some routes had stopped operating and promised investments had not materialized.
He told reporters that he had pressed Putin to resolve the concession and asked why coverage of the meeting did not describe Yerevan as presenting Moscow with a “tough choice.”
Pashinyan has suggested transferring the concession to another friendly country. He also said Armenia would not object if Moscow decided to withdraw its 102nd military base, although Yerevan is not currently demanding its departure.
He continued to describe relations with Russia as important, with Armenia remaining in the EAEU, having frozen rather than formally ended its CSTO participation, and not having applied for EU membership. But it also firmly rejects Moscow’s ill-disguised ambitions to govern its internal affairs.
