Pashinyan Rejected Putin's Demand

• 1.06.2026, 14:24

Armenia will not hold a referendum.

At the moment, there is no justification for Armenia to immediately hold a referendum on its course of joining the European Union and leaving the EAEU, the republic's Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said. Earlier, such a demand was voiced to Yerevan by Russian President Vladimir Putin, who said that only in this case the two countries will be able to separate "gently, intelligently and mutually beneficially." According to Pashinyan, holding such a referendum is "not logical" until Armenia has officially applied to the EU on the issue of membership and is not even close to becoming a candidate for accession, writes The Moscow Times.

"In fact, there are no grounds, no balance has been formed so that we can offer the people a choice to go one way or another. Today this choice is theoretical, and putting a theoretical choice to a referendum is not so reasonable, wrong and unreasonable," Pashinyan said in a video message on Facebook. Yerevan will continue to work in a calm and cold-blooded mode in the EAEU, where there is still untapped potential, the prime minister added. According to him, the relations with Russia are in the stage of transformation, and Armenia's economic policy is in line with the principle "independence is the replacement of dependence on the few with dependence on the many."

"We are working and will continue to work in the EAEU as long as the choice between the EAEU and the EU is inevitable. The decision, of course, should be made by the people of Armenia through a referendum," Pashinyan said.

Last week, the Kremlin issued a joint statement by the leaders of the EAEU countries, in which they called on Yerevan to hold a referendum on joining the EU and leaving the union "as soon as possible." The Moscow-led organization believes that Armenia's preparations to join the EU carry "significant risks" to the economic security of the EAEU countries.