YEREVAN (RFE/RL) — Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan praised the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU) as he chaired a summit of the Russian-led trade bloc in Yerevan on Tuesday, October 1.
Pashinyan, Russian President Vladimir Putin and the leaders of the other EEU member states — Belarus, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan — met in closed session before being joined by Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, Moldova’s President Igor Dodon and Singapore’s Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong.
“Our organization, which is already five years old, is getting stronger year after year,” Pashinyan said in his opening remarks. “It has already proved its viability and attractiveness as an international integration grouping.”
“I am happy to note that Armenia is making its contribution to this process,” added the prime minister who criticized Armenian membership in the EEU when he was opposition to his country’s former government.
Putin likewise declared that the establishment of the EEU has sped up economic growth and boosted living standards in its member states. “The EEU is developing steadily,” he said at the summit. “A vast common market has been created and it is functioning with success.”
Putin went on to announce that Russia and its ex-Soviet allies making up the bloc will create a “common electricity space” by 2025. He said they are also planning a common oil and gas market. That requires the “harmonization of member states’ legislations on gas supplies and transport,” added the Russian president.
