YEREVAN. – “Following the decision announced on September 3, Armenia neither wants nor is able to sign the EU Association Agreement any longer, Regional Studies Center Director, political analyst Richard Giragosian told 168 Zham daily.
‘“Because there can be no Association Agreement without the Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area (DCFTA) agreement.’
“To our clarification; that is, according to him, no document will be signed with the European Union in [the Lithuanian capital city] Vilnius in November [in the sidelines of the Eastern Partnership Summit], Giragosian responded: “Of course not; nothing was even proposed for signing.’
“In the political scientist’s words, now the process refers not to the Vilnius summit, but rather to the actions that are expected after Vilnius; that is, Armenia and the European Union will attempt to create new legal boundaries for cooperation.
‘“At the same time there is no guarantee that Armenia will become a member in the Customs Union. In other words, the Moscow announcement on September 3 did not mean that Armenia said ‘yes’ to the Customs Union, but it rather said ‘no’ to the European Union’ Richard Giragosian added,” 168 Zham writes.
To note, following the talks that were held on September 3 in Moscow between Armenian and Russian Presidents Serzh Sargsyan and Vladimir Putin, Sargsyan had announced that Armenia plans to join the Customs Union and subsequently engage in the formation of the Eurasian Economic Union. Aside from Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan likewise are members in the Customs Union.
