Russia recalls Armenia ambassador over EU ties

Published 7 June 2026 · europe

The recall comes a day after Putin warned Armenia against seeking EU membership and alluded to the "Ukrainian scenario." Armenia historically has strong ties with

The recall comes a day after Putin warned Armenia against seeking EU membership and alluded to the "Ukrainian scenario." Armenia historically has strong ties with Russia but has pivoted toward the West in recent years. What you need to know Armenia has strong economic ties with Moscow The government argues that Russia and allies failed to help Armenia in the 2020 and 2023 wars with Azerbaijan Russia says Armenia can't be both in the EU and the Russian-led Eurasian economic bloc Putin stressed that Russia's conflict with Ukraine started over Kyiv's seeking to join the European Union Russia announced on Saturday it had recalled its ambassador to Yerevan over Armenia's efforts to strengthen its ties with the European Union. Armenia historically has strong economic, diplomatic and security ties to Russia, but its government has in recent years increasingly pivoted toward the West. The Caucasian country held an Armenia-EU summit earlier in May, which Brussels hailed as a "leap forward" in ties. Armenia's balancing act between Europe and Russia To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video Why did Russia recall its ambassador to Armenia?

Moscow said that Armenia's rapprochement with Brussels could undermine its membership in a Russian-led economic bloc. "The Russian ambassador to the Republic of Armenia, S. Kopyrkin, has been recalled to Moscow for consultations on steps taken by the Armenian leadership on a rapprochement with the European Union, undermining cooperation within Eurasian Economic Union," the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement. The Eurasian Economic Union (EEU) is a single market which, besides Armenia, is also made up of Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan. Moscow has previously stressed that Armenia can't be a member both of the EU and the EEU. Putin warned Armenia against joining the EU while speaking at a Eurasian economic summit in Astana, Kazakhstan Image: Alexander Shcherbak/TASS/ZUMA/picture alliance Putin cites 'Ukrainian scenario' in warning to Yerevan The statement comes a day after Russian President Vladimir Putin tied the dispute with Armenia to what he called the "Ukrainian scenario," saying that Moscow's military confrontation with Kyiv began after Ukraine began to seek closer ties to the European Union. During a EEU summit in Kazakhstan's capital, Astana, on Friday, Putin also called for Armenia to hold a swift referendum on whether its citizens wish to remain in the Moscow-led bloc or instead go ahead with advancing EU accession talks.