The wish to join the European Union (EU) is Armenia's sovereign right, but the people of that country continue to receive dividends from membership in the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU), said Dmitry Peskov, the spokesperson for the Russian president, Interfax reports.

When asked by reporters to comment on the Armenian parliament on Wednesday passing a bill on Armenia’s plans to join the EU, Peskov replied: "This is Armenia's sovereign right, Armenians themselves should clarify all other issues, to what extent this is a mutual wish, how do the Europeans themselves feel about it."

“For now, we [i.e. Russia] proceed from the fact that Armenia continues to receive dividends from membership in the EAEU, in the processes of Eurasian economic integration, and these dividends are more than obvious,” the Kremlin spox added.

Peskov, directly referring to the passing of the bill on Armenia’s EU accession process in the first reading in the Armenian parliament, noted: “Most likely, there are certain political forces in Armenia that believe that orientation towards the European Union, perhaps precisely in the absence of a clear understanding of the European Union’s interests in this, will bring certain additional dividends in terms of both to the country and to the interests of the country’s people.”

According to Peskov, it is also worth paying attention to the complexity of the process of joining the EU.

“We know about the experience of many countries that have stood in a long queue in that process, which has been measured in decades,” said the Russian presidential spox.