Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has arrived in the Russian Federation on a working visit.

The Prime Minister was welcomed by Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Galuzin at Moscow's Vnukovo Airport.

Today, Prime Minister Pashinyan will meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin in the Kremlin.

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A meeting between Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan and President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin took place in the Kremlin.

Russian President Vladimir Putin - Dear Nikol Vladimirovich, dear friends, we are very glad to see you in Moscow. Thank you very much for accepting the invitation.

We see that Armenia's internal political processes are gaining momentum, and elections are coming soon. What would I like to draw attention to in this regard? I would like to touch upon several circumstances. The main thing is that these internal political processes, and they always intensify during any election campaign, this intensification, I am sure, is the same in Armenia as in Russia and in other countries of the world, should not harm our relations between Russia and Armenia in any way.

We have talked about this with you many times. Russia and Armenia have special relations, they have been formed not over decades, but over centuries. We are united by a shared history and solving common problems in the past through joint efforts. We are also united by civilizational commonalities. This is extremely important.

I have told you once in private, and I can say it publicly: we are always satisfied with everything that comes from the interests of the Armenian people. And you can always have this in mind.

As for the economy, it is developing at a good pace. The year before last, the turnover amounted to 11 billion dollars. And last year, in 2025, it was 6.4 billion. I would like to draw attention to the fact that, for example, with the neighboring country of Azerbaijan, this figure is less than five billion, it's 4.9. However, this indicates something. And of that 6.5 billion, 1.2 billion dollars are agricultural products. These are vegetables, fruits, wine, that is, everything that Armenia exports.

In this regard, of course, we have also talked with you, some issues, in my opinion, are quite important for our relations. These are, for example, energy, agriculture, which I have already mentioned.

We see that a discussion is underway in Armenia on the development of relations with the European Union. We look at it completely calmly, we understand that any country seeks to derive maximum benefit from cooperation with third countries. However, it should be obvious, it should be said honestly and beforehand, from the very beginning, that being in a customs union with the European Union and being in the EAEU is impossible. It is simply impossible. And the issue is not even political, but purely economic in nature. Since some issues require a lot of joint work, which must be carried out for years. This is the difference in the assessment of individual product groups, the entry of these groups into the market. This is phytosanitary control for all products. Phytosanitary requirements in Russia and the countries of the European Union are completely different, they differ significantly. There are also many other issues that today, at this moment, at some point, maybe years later, we, the EAEU and the European Union, I hope that it will be so, after all, we live on the same continent, we will be able to regulate relations. But even before the Ukrainian crisis, when we were trying to reach an agreement with the Europeans to work together in some way, nothing worked. They take a very tough stance on practically every issue, even issues that seemed minor to me at the time.

Now, as for energy. I hope that the situation will be regulated here too. However, as of today, you know, the prices of energy carriers, for example, the price of gas in Europe exceeds $ 600 per 1000 cubic meters, and Russia sells gas to Armenia for $ 177.5 per 1000 cubic meters. The difference is big. The difference is significant.

We often argue with you on this issue. I know that you insist on other methods of determining the price of energy carriers, but these are, nevertheless, a different situation: 600 versus 177.5.

And if we look at what is happening with the Armenian economy, I don’t know, it seems to me that you also assess it that way. In recent years, Armenia’s exports to the EAEU countries have increased 10 times. I repeat, this is your decision, ultimately the decision of your team, your experts, where and with whom to work, on what basis.

Now, security-related issues. Of course, the most sensitive issue to date - we understand this, we often talk about it - is everything related to Karabakh. We talk about it all the time. And we know that both you and your colleagues have had and still have questions and certain grievances towards the Collective Security Treaty Organization, the CSTO. We always return to this issue. But I think it is also obvious that after you accepted in Prague in 2022 that Karabakh is part of Azerbaijan, the CSTO's intervention in this process, which has acquired an intra-Azerbaijani nature, was simply absolutely wrong in this matter, related to the reunification of Karabakh, if we consider it part of Azerbaijan. This is not an assessment, I am not saying that this is good or bad, from the point of view of organizing peaceful life, I think that, probably, it made sense.

And, by the way, today, thanks to your and the Azerbaijani President's efforts, I think it has been possible to reach the level of stabilization of relations, and the US President has also taken an active part in it. And, in my opinion, transport routes are also being unblocked, etc. Here we simply need to look for ways to further strengthen relations. But it seems to me that here too we need to finish here, and it would be better if this did not become part of the domestic political process, especially during the election campaign.

And finally, in Armenia we have many friends, many, we know that. Many Armenians live in the Russian Federation. We can calculate differently, we consider it to be more than 2 million people. And the statistical data of our Ministry of Internal Affairs itself testify to this. And there are many political forces that have a pro-Russian position. Of course, I will tell you openly that we have such a dialogue that we always speak honestly and directly. We would very much like all these political parties, politicians to be able to participate in this domestic political work during the elections. Some, I know, are in places of detention, despite the fact that they have Russian passports. That is your decision, we do not interfere, but we would like them to at least be able to participate in this domestic political process.

And once again I want to say that no matter what happens, we in Russia will always be guided by what is beneficial to the Armenian people. I have always told you this and I want to emphasize it once again.

I hope that no matter how the elections in Armenia end, our common attitude towards building and strengthening Russian-Armenian relations will continue. Thank you.

Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan - Thank you very much, Vladimir Vladimirovich. First of all, thank you for the invitation and warm welcome.

We, of course, recently met in St. Petersburg and held very successful negotiations. However, our relations are so rich that there is a need for such frequent meetings, and there is always something to discuss at a high level.

Of course, our relations with the Russian Federation are very deep, very important for us, and, in my opinion, they are developing dynamically in the conditions of new realities formed in our region, when peace has finally been established between Armenia and Azerbaijan. And I think that this also has a positive impact on our relations with the Russian Federation, because for the first time since the beginning of our independence we have a railway connection with the Russian Federation, and we are importing from Russia by rail through the territory of Azerbaijan. I hope that in the near future we will also carry out exports. And this, of course, strengthens our traditional economic ties and strengthens our ties within the framework of the Eurasian Economic Union.

As for the European Union, of course, we know that in principle membership in two unions is incompatible, but what we are doing and the agenda that we have are, at least for the moment, compatible. This is a fact. And as long as there is an opportunity to combine these agendas, we will continue to combine them. And when the processes reach the point where it will be necessary to make a decision, I am sure that we, I mean the citizens of the Republic of Armenia, will make that decision. Of course, in this context, our relations with the Russian Federation have never been and will never be questioned, because, as I have already noted, these ties and relations are very deep and are not subject to discussion.

Of course, we also cooperate in the energy sector, and here we also have traditionally strong ties and cooperation. I must say that we are now working very closely with the Russian side to develop the sphere of new technologies, I mean new energy technologies, because new energy technologies, solar energy and so on, are developing very well in Armenia.

You know that we are also discussing the issue of building a new nuclear power plant with the Russian Federation. We are completely transparent in these matters, because we do not hide that we are discussing these issues not only with Russian partners, but also with other partners, because we are looking for the most beneficial offer for the Republic of Armenia.

As I have already said, peace has been established between Armenia and Azerbaijan, and you mentioned the name of President Trump, and it is obvious that he has made his contribution to this process, but it is also obvious that you personally have also played and continue to play a key, very important role in the process of normalizing relations between Azerbaijan and Armenia. You have always supported all these processes, we have always been in close contact, I have regularly informed you about the processes underway. And, by the way, in August of last year, when I returned from Washington and called you, I said then that what happened in Washington also opens up new opportunities for our relations.

And now it is a fact - I have already mentioned the railway connection between Russia and Armenia. We have been working on this topic for decades, but, unfortunately, we have never managed to reach such a decision.

As for issues related to Karabakh, I have already stated very transparently and publicly in the Republic of Armenia that we should not continue the Karabakh movement, because peace has already been established between Armenia and Azerbaijan, and Armenia and Azerbaijan have recognized each other's territorial integrity, political independence, and sovereignty, based on the 1991 Alma-Ata Declaration, which means that we mutually recognize that independent Armenia is 100% identical to Soviet Armenia, and independent Azerbaijan is 100% identical to Soviet Azerbaijan.

I think this is a fairly solid basis for the further development of peace. And, of course, I want to thank you once again for the support that I have always felt in the process of establishing peace between Armenia and Azerbaijan. We have discussed the Karabakh issue many times, mainly in a working format. Yes, we have recognized Karabakh as part of Azerbaijan, but we did so only after the top leadership of the Russian Federation twice publicly announced this, and you remember, we have talked about it many times. And we have never hidden our problems with the CSTO either, because in 2022 we had a specific situation. And, in my opinion, the CSTO mechanisms should have been activated, but they were not activated, and this, of course, led to the situation that we have in relations with the CSTO. We are not currently participating in the work of the CSTO for a simple reason: we are still unable to explain to our people, our citizens, why the CSTO did not respond, and did not respond despite the obligations that exist under the Collective Security Treaty.

As for our domestic political processes, you know, Armenia is a democratic country, and we almost always have political processes, and this is already a normal phenomenon for us. In fact, twice a year we hold municipal elections, which are also very politicized, because as a result of our political reforms, people there also vote for or against political parties. I want to say that we have citizens who think that there is too much democracy in Armenia. But this is a matter of principle for us. For example, social networks are 100% free in our country, there are no restrictions at all, and many citizens think that this is too much.

And in the general context, to be honest, we do not have participants in political processes in places of detention. And I would like to draw attention to the fact that, for example, we have parliamentary elections coming up. These are elections for deputies, and de facto also elections for the prime minister. And I want to draw your attention to the fact that only those citizens who have exclusively Armenian passports can participate in these elections. That is, with all due respect, but persons with Russian passports, according to the Constitution of the Republic of Armenia, cannot be either a candidate for deputy or a candidate for prime minister. There are no restrictions here.

And I am 100% sure that you know that our relations with the Russian Federation and our personal relations have gone through many trials in recent years. And I am very happy and I want to thank you once again for the atmosphere of trust that you have created, first of all, because if you did not want us to have such open and trusting relations, I think it is obvious that I would not have been able to do this. And I want to thank you once again.

And I am confident that as a result of our upcoming elections, democracy and people's power in Armenia will be further strengthened, and our relations will also be strengthened, and with the results of the elections they will continue to develop dynamically. Of course, I have already said that our agenda is very full, but there are also many opportunities that have not yet been used. I am confident that as a result of our dialogue, these opportunities will be used. Thank you.