YEREVAN. – Russian president Vlaidmir Putin plans to meet with his Armenian counterpart Serzh Sargsyan in the near future. Even if there is no meeting, the presidents will definitely talk on phone, director general of the EurAsEC institute Vladimir Lepyokhin said in Yerevan on Tuesday.
Asked about the reasons to postpone Armenia’s joining the Eurasian Economic Union, Lepyokhin said it is clear that Armenia’s accession will hardly bring any profit to Russia or Kazakhstan.
“On the other hand, Russia is not approaching the issue in this way. Russia is a romantic country to some extent. I do not agree that Belarus and Kazakhstan oppose Armenia’s accession,” he said.
Lepyokhin believe Kazakhstan president’s political remarks against Armenia were an occasion to express discontent with Russia.
“It is clear that the Armenian side will say that it is ready to join the Eurasian Economic Union, but Russia is unwilling to repeat the situation in May, when Kazakhstan can suddenly find another reason to express political comments again,” said Director General.
He is convinced that Russia is Armenia's lobbyist, but no one can say when the agreement will be signed.
“In Russia, there is a desire to make it happen not as soon as possible, but as comfortable as possible for Armenia. Of course, the talks are in progress, and Russia is definitely defending the interests of Armenia. For this you need to be sure that there will be no hidden rocks from Kazakhstan and from Belarus,” he said.
The treaty on the establishment of the Eurasian Economic Union (EaEU) was signed, in the Kazakh capital city Astana on May 29, by the leaders of Russia, Belarus, and Kazakhstan. In addition, Armenia President Serzh Sargsyan participated in the meeting of the Supreme Eurasian Economic Council and offered to sign a treaty on Armenia’s Union accession by no later than June 15.
In response, Kazakhstan President Nursultan Nazarbayev spoke about the letter by Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev calling to accept Armenia into the Eurasian Union only within the limits of the country’s internationally recognized borders, and not including Nagorno-Karabakh. But Russian President Vladimir Putin, for his part, stressed the need to sign a respective document with Armenia in the shortest period of time.
