YEREVAN. – Well-informed diplomatic sources claim that the matter of whether or not Armenia will become a Eurasian Union member does not depend on devotion to the European system of values, 168 Zham daily reports.   

“According to the same sources, Armenia would have become a member in this organization a ling time ago if it not had been for Customs Union member Kazakhstan’s demand, according to which Armenia may join the union [but] without Nagorno-Karabakh [NK]. The Kazakhstan president claims that if Armenia becomes a Customs Union member, a customs control would have to be set up between Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh. [But] Armenia cannot agree to such demand because, in some sense, this means losing Nagorno-Karabakh.    

“On the other hand, Russia, which wants to see Armenia in the Customs Union, does not want to lose Kazakhstan for the sake of Armenia.

“Armenia insists on Customs Union membership together with NK, but Russia still does not find the way to solve this problem. It is due to this reason that the Armenian authorities tend to sign an association agreement with the European Union. [Because] unlike the Customs Union, the European Union does not demand from Armenia to set up boundaries with Nagorno-Karabakh,” 168 Zham writes.