After Years of Deterioration, Armenia’s Relations with Russia Appear to be Warming

Before this, on March 20, political consultations were held between the Armenian and Russian foreign ministries in Moscow, headed by Armenian Deputy Foreign Minister Mnatsakan Safaryan and his Russian counterpart Mikhail Galuzin.

The two sides discussed a “broad range of issues” focused on bilateral relations, including the development of trade and economic cooperation between Armenia and Russia.

The freefall of the bilateral ties largely began following the lack of support from Russia and the Moscow-led Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) during the Azerbaijani attacks on Armenia in 2021 and 2022. Another major reason was the “inaction” of Russian peacekeepers in Nagorno-Karabakh, when Azerbaijan placed the region in a nine-month blockade and forced it to surrender in a culminating lightning offensive in September 2023.

One of the signs that relations were improving came in January, when Mirzoyan and Lavrov held talks in Moscow in “a sincere and constructive atmosphere.”

Following the agreement on the text of the peace treaty with Azerbaijan on March 13, Russian President Vladimir Putin was the first world leader that Pashinyan had a phone call with, “informing” him of the development.

During the same call, according to the Kremlin, Pashinyan confirmed that “he accepted the invitation” of Putin “to take part in the May 9 celebrations in Moscow marking the 80th anniversary” of the USSR’s victory in World War II.

Sona Ghazaryan, an MP from the ruling Civil Contract party, in an interview with  CivilNet, stated that there is a “change in logic and content” in bilateral relations with Russia.

“For a long time, Armenian–Russian relations have become more honest, open, but at the same time based on the principle of mutual respect for sovereignty and independence. We are able to discuss complex topics, we are able to agree on complex topics, but at the same time I think that relations will benefit from this sincerity,” she said.

Ghazaryan also stated that Armenia “should be guided by having minimal enemies and developing interconnectedness with various states,” and that Armenia should not fall “from one extreme to the other.”

After the ruling Georgian Dream party claimed victory in the October 2024 elections — which were found by both local and international observers to have had serious violations — and continued its drift away from the West, Armenia was left as the sole state in the region actively pursuing integration with the EU.

With this geopolitical shift, political analysts foresaw a potential shift in Armenia’s pro-Western policy to pursuing more balanced relations with other countries, including with Russia.