Armenia is not receiving reciprocity within the framework of the European integration path, and Yerevan’s aspirations are fraught with endless waiting, hoping to become part of the European Union (EU). Chairman of the Russian State Duma Committee on International Affairs and leader of the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia, Leonid Slutsky, told this to TASS.

“ [Armenian PM Nikol]Pashinyan, as I have repeatedly said, is ‘standing on Ukrainian rake.’ Yerevan has in fact chosen the path of European integration without any legal guarantee of reciprocity. Yerevan was warned that it would not be possible to sit on two chairs at the same time: either [its current] membership in the EAEU [i.e. the Eurasian Economic Union], with market and trade advantages, or a thorny path to unification with the EU, with an endless long wait in the lobby. But that is their [i.e. Armenia’s] choice,” Slutsky said.

Also, the Russian parliamentarian drew attention to the fact that the current Armenian authorities, in their pursuit of European integration, have “exposed long-standing cooperation with Russia to serious risks” and thereby weakened their own economy, which is mainly oriented towards the Russian market.

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