A meeting between Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Russian President Vladimir Putin took place in Bishkek.

President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin - Dear Nikol Vovayevich, dear friends, I am very glad to see you.

And, first of all, I will emphasize the main thing and I would like to start with this: we have always advocated and are advocating for the development of friendly, mutually beneficial relations with Armenia, based on the principles of strategic partnership and allied relations. We proceed from the fact that this corresponds to the fundamental interests of the Armenian people, the fundamental interests of Russia, and I will not even repeat it, we have repeatedly noted this with you, it also corresponds to the historical roots that connect our two peoples.

Russia is Armenia's main trade and economic partner, with a share of about 30 percent, and is also an investor in the Armenian economy. In the first half of the current year, the trade turnover amounted to 2.5 billion dollars.

Mutually beneficial projects are being implemented in the fields of industry and agriculture, mining, peaceful nuclear energy, transport, and the digital economy. Russian companies are the largest taxpayers of the Armenian budget, creating jobs, transferring modern technologies, and strengthening the country's energy security.

I would also like to note that we have already discussed with you many times the issues related to Armenia's declared intention to join the European Union. We have repeatedly touched upon this topic both during telephone conversations and in personal meetings.

You know Russia's position well. Armenia's aspiration to join the EU is the natural, legal right of the country and its people. Armenia is a sovereign state, and the Armenian people will determine the direction of their development. However, this certainly creates difficulties in terms of being in the Eurasian Economic Union and threatens to nullify the Republic's advantages in the Eurasian Economic Union market and disrupt the established trade chains.

Meanwhile, over the course of more than 10 years of participation in Eurasian integration processes, Armenia's GDP has almost tripled: in 2015 it amounted to $10.6 billion, and by 2025 it is $29.2 billion (at least according to our statistics). Exports to the countries of the Eurasian Economic Union have increased 10 times: today the union's market accounts for about 36% of Armenia's foreign trade turnover.

Therefore, of course, the people of Armenia should clearly express their opinion on the choice of the country’s future political and economic course, but at the same time, as we have been saying, it is important to approach the adoption of appropriate steps exclusively objectively, based on reality.

I repeat once again, we will treat any choice of the Armenian people with respect. As Armenia decides, so it will be. But we must align our trade and economic policy with these possible decisions, and we would like to ask you to bring clarity to this issue as soon as possible.

I remember that you publicly said that you consider it necessary to hold a referendum on this issue in the future, and I supported your position at the last summit of the heads of state of the Eurasian Economic Union, I directly mentioned that Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan publicly announced this and I also asked our partners to support it. And the sooner we clarify, the better, because we also need to understand how to develop relations with Armenia, first of all, in economic terms.

Issues related to regulations, for example, related to agricultural products, the regulation of various technical norms and standards, do not coincide at all in the Eurasian Economic Union and the EU. We have repeatedly encountered this, attempts, even when our relations were more or less normal, to agree on some compromises with the Europeans did not lead to any results, any. They are quite tough negotiators, quite stubborn. And so we did not find an opportunity to resolve almost any issue.

At some point, we will probably still have to do this, taking into account the fundamental interests of both our economy and the European economy, which are in some ways complementary. I hope that all these crisis phenomena will pass one day. But even when they pass... Look, even when there were good relations with Europe, it was very difficult to reach an agreement. And in this regard, there will undoubtedly be problems with the penetration of European goods, services, etc. into our market through Armenia. There are thousands of questions there. We would like to understand what will happen in this area.

I hope that we will now discuss all these issues with you in a calm, friendly, businesslike atmosphere.

Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan - Thank you very much, Vladimir Vladimirovich. First of all, I am very happy for this meeting and this opportunity, because there are indeed many issues that need to be discussed.

First of all, I would like to confirm that we are interested in the further development and deepening of our relations with the Russian Federation.

It should also be noted that in recent years, the situation around Armenia and in our entire region has changed and it seems to us that we need to look at the situation from this perspective, because relations between Russia and Armenia had a different meaning in a conflict situation, and now, when peace has been established in the region, it seems to us that it is necessary to look at the situation with a fresh look.

And I think that this will contribute to the development of our relations, we mean the deepening and development of our relations, and this is very important.

You mentioned the Russian enterprises that operate in Armenia, and I must say, and today we were discussing this issue, that many Russian companies operate very successfully in the Republic of Armenia, they are highly profitable companies. You are right, they pay taxes, but the companies should also be divided into two parts. There are companies that operate successfully, that is, they are profitable and developing, but there are also companies that, unfortunately, are not profitable and are not developing. And this, I think, is a problem for both Armenia and the Russian Federation. This is also a question, these issues, these nuances should also be considered and discussed.

And regarding the EU, you know, this issue is being discussed a lot both at the working level and publicly. You know, last year we adopted the law on the launch of Armenia’s accession process to the European Union, and there is a lot of discussion about how the adoption of this law corresponds to the obligations we have undertaken within the framework of the Eurasian Economic Union.

We have analyzed the existing contractual framework between the Russian Federation and Armenia, as well as the existing contractual framework within the framework of the Eurasian Economic Union, both before and after that move, and, frankly, we have not found any violations of the obligations that Armenia has towards the Russian Federation and the Eurasian Economic Union, because the Treaty on the Eurasian Economic Union also directly states how to act if the country decides to withdraw from the Eurasian Economic Union.

By the way, there is no regulation there according to which a member state can be expelled from the organization. That is, it is stipulated there that if a country decides to withdraw from the Eurasian Economic Union, it must notify its partners about it in advance, six months in advance. I think we should look at this situation from this perspective.

At the moment, we have not notified our partners that we are going to withdraw from the Eurasian Economic Union. I think we should rely on this very fact, because the issue of a referendum has been discussed a lot in this regard.

Frankly speaking, the adoption of the law already meant a rejection of the idea of a referendum at that time, because if the parliament had not adopted this law at that time, I want to remind you that this law was initiated by civil society, that is, they, in accordance with the Constitution, collected signatures of Armenian citizens and submitted this draft to the parliament.

If the parliament had not adopted this law, the initiators could have collected another 250 thousand signatures, and if the parliament had rejected it this time too, we would have had to hold a referendum in the Republic of Armenia. In other words, by adopting this law, it turns out that we have abandoned the idea of a referendum.

And why did we refuse, because this issue, I had the opportunity to talk to you about it, had not yet matured to the level where it would be possible to formulate a question before our people.

Why did we adopt this law at all? First, in order not to hold a referendum, and secondly, as I have repeatedly said publicly, it is very important for us that our country and our people have alternatives. I think that this is a legitimate goal.

This does not mean that we are dissatisfied with the Eurasian Economic Union, although there are many working issues in the EAEU, we always discuss them, both strategic and tactical issues.

We simply believe that, especially in the current international situation, for any country, by the way, today we were also discussing this, the topic of the SCO summit was a multipolar world order, that is, it is considered a legitimate goal - to have alternatives for a state, a country.

We simply believe that, especially in the current international situation, for any country, by the way, today we were also discussing this, the theme of the SCO summit was a multipolar world order, that is, it is considered a legitimate goal, to have alternatives for a state, a country.

And this process is not directed against Russia, it is not directed against the Eurasian Economic Union, because we highly value our relations with the Russian Federation. Indeed, as you have already mentioned, it is so important for us, for our country. We hope that these relations are also important for the Russian Federation.

And I think that we should, both the Republic of Armenia, and the Russian Federation, and we personally, treat these relations very carefully. And I want to confirm that I, personally, and our Government, treat these relations very carefully and I am sure that you also treat these relations carefully and I want to thank you for that.

President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin - Dear Nikol Vovayevich, we will discuss with you now. I am always interested in holding discussions with you on any topic, including this one, but on the main issue, I will nevertheless allow myself to disagree with you.

You said that you have not announced your withdrawal. The adoption of the law on the start of the procedure for joining another economic organization essentially means an announcement of withdrawal from our organization, because being there and here at the same time is incompatible. That is the problem.

Well, let's discuss all this calmly now.

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan — I think, and I am saying this publicly, that we understand that the time will come when it will be necessary to make a very clear choice. Simply our position is that at the moment that time has not yet come, we do not need it now, because, in fact, at the moment we have no alternative, that alternative has not actually been created.

When it is created, if it is created, then, of course, we will make a choice, through a referendum or without a referendum. Well, there are such mechanisms. I will be happy to continue this conversation with you and answer all your questions.

Russian President Vladimir Putin - I agree that the people should always have the opportunity to choose. Well, then create that opportunity and let's close the topic. That's it. Now the simplest thing is to turn to people and ask: what do you want, this way or that? And that's it.

Okay, now we will talk.