AZE.US
Russia may suspend or terminate a 2013 agreement with Armenia on the supply of natural gas, oil products and rough diamonds if Yerevan continues its path toward the European Union, Kommersant reported.
The newspaper said the warning was contained in a May 25 letter from Russian Energy Minister Sergei Tsivilev to Armenia’s Ministry of Territorial Administration and Infrastructure.
According to the report, Moscow said Armenia’s steps to deepen cooperation with the EU, along with its declared ambition to join the bloc, “threaten” the continuation of Russian-Armenian trade, economic and investment cooperation.
The agreement, signed in December 2013, allows Armenia to receive Russian gas and oil products duty-free for domestic consumption. Re-export to third countries is not permitted under the arrangement.
For Armenia, the issue is not a technical dispute over trade rules. It goes to the heart of the country’s economic dependence on Russia.
In 2025, Gazprom supplied Armenia with about 2.7 billion cubic meters of gas. Another 476 million cubic meters came from Iran under a gas-for-electricity swap. Armenia currently pays $177.5 per 1,000 cubic meters for Russian gas.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov earlier said Armenia’s preferential gas price would become a market price if the country leaves the Eurasian Economic Union.
Armenia formally launched its EU integration process in spring 2024. At the same time, it has been a member of the Eurasian Economic Union since January 2015, alongside Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan.
The message from Moscow is blunt: Armenia may speak about a European future, but the cost of that political choice could be translated into gas prices, duties and trade conditions.
Russian officials have also sharpened their criticism of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s government. State Duma Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin previously accused Yerevan of pursuing an unfriendly policy toward Moscow, saying Russia supports Armenia’s economy and supplies gas at a preferential price but receives “meanness and dishonesty” in return.
In Yerevan, officials have also linked the issue of Russian gas prices to Armenia’s future in Moscow-led blocs. Armenian Parliament Speaker Alen Simonyan has said Armenia could consider leaving the CSTO and the Eurasian Economic Union if the price of Russian gas rises.
The gas dispute is now becoming a political test for Armenia. The further Yerevan moves toward the EU, the less willing Moscow appears to be to preserve the benefits that have helped keep Armenia’s economy tied to Russia for years.
AZE.US