Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has announced Yerevan's interest in further developing relations with Russia, RIA Novosti reports.

"We [i.e. Armenia] are interested in further deepening our relations with the Russian Federation," the head of the Armenian government said during a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit in Bishkek, the capital of Kyrgyzstan.

At the same time, Pashinyan said that Armenia has abandoned the idea of holding a referendum on EU membership by passing a relevant law, TASS reports.