Russia and Armenia have lost $5.1 billion in mutual trade in 2025 due to talks about rapprochement between Yerevan and the European Union (EU), Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexey Overchuk stated in an interview with TASS.

“In September 2024, we [i.e. Russia] drew the attention of our Armenian partners to the fact that their talks about seeking EU membership negatively affect the attitude of Russian entrepreneurs towards trade with Armenia,” he noted. “These talks about rapprochement with the EU alone have cost Russia-Armenia relations a real $5.1 billion.”

The Russian deputy premier cited specific figures in this regard, noting that by the end of 2024, mutual trade between Russia and Armenia will amount to $11.5 billion, but according to preliminary data in 2025 it will decrease to approximately $6.4 billion.

“How do you think Russian entrepreneurs will react to the presence of Armenian business in Russia if Russian business is pushed out of Armenia? And what will happen next? I don’t think that neither Armenia nor Russia wants to know the answer to this question, although it is obvious,” Overchuk said.