Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan's statements that it will be possible to talk about a referendum on Armenia's accession to the European Union (EU) only after submitting a respective application and preparing a "roadmap" attest to his "not so great trust" in his own people, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov stated in an interview with RBC television.

"Literally a few days ago I was reading the news that Nikol Pashinyan has stated that it will be possible to talk about a referendum [on whether Armenia should join the EU] when they submit an application to the European Union, when there is a response to it, and when a ‘roadmap’ for that membership is prepared," the Russian foreign minister said. "And then, according to him, there will be the referendum."

"In my opinion, this speaks of the not so great trust in the Armenian voters, the Armenian people," Lavrov added. "It is necessary to show the honest choice—what you are choosing between, how you are live now—when in the last three years the trade has been more than six billion, in one year—12 billion. In general, Armenia was developing on the account of the EAEU [i.e. the Eurasian Economic Union]."