Lavrov said the talks will “contribute to the resolution of issues that have arisen in our relations lately.”
“On a number of issues we managed to reach mutually acceptable solutions,” he told a joint news briefing with Mirzoyan. He did not disclose them.
The top Armenian and Russian diplomats had not met since November 2023. Yerevan appears to have minimized diplomatic contacts with Moscow amid a deepening rift between the two longtime allies and Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian’s efforts to reorient his country towards the West. Lavrov described Russian-Armenian relations as “uneasy” on January 14.
“I don’t know of any country relations with which our I would call easy,” he said in that regard on Tuesday.
“Today we have agreed with Ararat Samvelovich [Mirzoyan] that we will continue to tell each other honestly and frankly about what concerns Armenia has regarding Russia and Russia’s concerns regarding Armenia,” added the Russian minister. “We will try to ensure that the media scene is not used by ill-wishers of our countries for turning normal, businesslike relations into uneasy ones.”
Mirzoyan described his meeting with Lavrov as “frank and constructive,” saying that they agreed to keep up bilateral “dialogue at all levels”
The Russian-Armenian tensions were stoked by the Armenian government’s approval on January 9 of a bill calling for the “start of a process of Armenia's accession to the European Union.” Moscow was quick to deplore the move, with Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexei Overchuk calling it “the beginning of Armenia's withdrawal” from the Eurasian Economic Union ((EEU). Overchuk warned that the South Caucasus nation risks losing its tariff-free access to Russia’s vast market and having to pay much more for Russian natural gas and foodstuffs.
Pashinian telephoned Russian President Vladimir Putin late last week to discuss his plans to strive to join the EU. Putin made “corresponding comments” in response to Pashinian’s explanations, the Kremlin reported without elaborating
Mirzoyan made clear that the bill in question will likely be approved by the Armenian parliament controlled by Pashinian’s party.
“As for what happens next, we'll figure that out later,” he said vaguely.
Asked about the EU membership bid’s impact on Armenia’s continued membership in the Russian-led trade bloc, Mirzoyan said: “I’m not the one to comment on that … If the question is raised that way, we will probably have to look at that.”
For his part, Lavrov pointedly declined to comment on the matter during the news conference. Like other Russian officials, he emphasized the fact that Russia remains Armenia’s leading trading partner.
It accounted for over 41 percent of Armenia’s foreign trade in January-November 2024, compared with the EU’s 7.5 percent share. Russian-Armenian trade has skyrocketed since 2022.
