By Andrew Osborn and Lucy Papachristou
MOSCOW, May 27 (Reuters) – Russia said on Wednesday it had warned Armenia it would suspend or terminate the supply of cheap oil, gas and rough diamonds to the South Caucasus country if Yerevan pressed ahead with its bid to join the European Union.
Moscow issued the warning ahead of a parliamentary election on June 7 with opinion polls giving the Civil Contract party of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan – who has forged a warmer relationship with the West to Moscow’s irritation – a comfortable lead over pro-Russian rivals.
“The Russian Embassy has officially forwarded a letter…stating that if the process of accession to the EU continues, the Russian side will suspend or unilaterally terminate the Agreement on Cooperation in the Supply of Natural Gas, Petroleum Products and Rough Diamonds,” Maria Zakharova, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman, told the RIA news agency.
Armenia, a landlocked nation of around 3 million, has traditionally had close ties to Russia and is a member of a Russian-led economic union. It hosts Russian military bases and is heavily dependent on Moscow for energy, with 82% of its gas last year coming from Russia, according to the Interfax news agency.
But ties with Moscow have grown increasingly rancorous since Azerbaijan forcibly retook its breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh in September 2023, prompting a mass exodus of ethnic Armenians despite the presence of Russian peacekeepers.
Pashinyan, who accused Russia at the time of failing to protect his country, has since sought to deepen ties with Brussels and Washington and has suspended Armenia’s participation in a Russian-led regional defence bloc.
RUBIO VISITS YEREVAN
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio visited Yerevan on Tuesday and signed a strategic partnership agreement in a sign of warming ties, and Armenia last year adopted a law launching its EU accession process.
Moscow, which argues that membership of the EU would be incompatible with Armenia’s membership of a Russian-led economic bloc, earlier this month accused Armenia of being drawn into what it described as the EU’s “anti‑Russian orbit” and of providing Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy with “a platform for anti-Russian remarks.”
The cooperation agreement which Russia is saying it may end allows Armenia to buy oil, gas and rough diamonds free of export duties and on vastly preferential terms.
Moscow said its letter of warning was sent by Russian Energy Minister Sergei Tsivilev to the Armenian Territorial Administration and Infrastructure Ministry.
Armenia’s tilt towards the EU, Tsivilev wrote, was “inconsistent with the nature of the partnership between the governments and economic entities of our countries, built over decades on the basis of respect and mutual benefit,” according to a text of the letter published by Russia’s Kommersant newspaper.
The Armenian ministry told state media on Wednesday it had received no such letter from Tsivilev.
(Reporting by Reuters Writing by Andrew Osborn/Lucy PapachristouEditing by Keith Weir)
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