Russia and Armenia are bound by security obligations, and the European Union (EU) does not offer Yerevan any tangible alternative in this area. Mikhail Kalugin, Director of the Fourth CIS Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) of Russia, stated this in an interview with TASS.

He emphasized that Russia and Armenia are bound by a number of agreements that “preserve the security of the [Armenian] republic.”

“The CSTO remains an important element of this architecture. For us, Yerevan’s ‘freezing’ of its membership in the organization does not change the essence of the obligations. It is difficult to imagine what such guarantees can be replaced with. As we became convinced during the summits held [last week] in Yerevan under the auspices of the EU, no one offers a tangible alternative,” the Russian diplomat noted.

According to him, Russia, for its part, “is not what it can offer, but for many years it has been actually and effectively ensuring the stability and security of Armenia.” Among the Russian-Armenian security agreements, Kalugin also mentioned the 1992 agreements on the protection of Armenia’s borders with Turkey and Iran by Russian border guards, the 1995 agreement on the deployment of a Russian military base in Armenia, and the 1997 agreement on friendship, cooperation, and mutual assistance between Armenia and Russia.

“We [i.e. Russia] are Armenia’s main trade and economic partner. According to the results of 2025, 36% of its foreign trade fell to our country [while the EU accounted for about 10%]. 98% of [Armenia’s] agricultural products and 78% of exports of strong alcoholic beverages are supplied to the Russian market. 98% of foreign trade settlements are carried out in national currencies. Dozens of domestic business projects have been launched in Armenia with an investment amount of $4.2 billion. Russia is a guarantor of [Armenia’s] energy and food security. At the same time, [Russian] vital goods and energy sources for Armenia are supplied at prices significantly lower than market prices," the Russian MFA official concluded.