Shoigu  speaks about Armenia`s unfriendly moves against Russia

ArmInfo. The Armenian leadership has recently taken a number of steps that are inconsistent with the spirit of its  allied relations with Russia, as stated by  Russian Security Council Secretary Sergei Shoigu, according to Russian media.

"It's no secret that the country's leadership has recently taken a  number of steps that are inconsistent with the spirit of its allied  relations with the Russian Federation," Shoigu said. His remarks were  made during a meeting of the Russian Security Council working group.  According to him, Armenia regularly aligns itself with the European  Union's stance on international platforms and is actively working to  modify standards and synchronize customs and trade regimes with the  EU, "which may not be consistent with Armenia's obligations within  the EAEU." 

"Joint military exercises are currently being conducted, and in  recent years, the Armenian leadership has taken a number of actions  that are  clearly unfriendly. This is precisely how we view Armenia's  accession to the International Criminal Court and the extradition of  Russian citizens to third countries (...)," he said.

Shoigu criticized Yerevan for giving a floor to Ukrainian President  Volodymyr Zelenskyy to speak at the European Political Community  summit. According to the Security Council Secretary, Zelenskyy's  speech contained threats against Russia, including threats to attack  the Victory Day parade. "This is nothing less than a mockery of the  memory of more than one and a half million Armenians who fought  against Nazism, this absolute evil, without sparing their lives,"  Shoigu stated.

"We fully understand the desire of the Armenian leadership to  continue deriving economic benefits from relations with our country,"  he added. "However,  cooperation and strategic partnership are a  two-way street. Therefore, I propose that we now discuss the further  cooperation with Armenia in the political, economic, and security  spheres. In 2025-2026, several countries unfriendly to Russia became  Armenia's strategic partners. The agreement with them entails, among  other things, deeper cooperation in the security sphere. Joint  military exercises are being conducted," Shoigu noted.

He recalled that Russia's share in Armenia's total trade turnover is  36%. "Our country ranks first in  exports and imports," he noted.   "Today, up to 98% of Armenian agricultural exports go to Russia, as  well as 78% of its  exports of strong alcoholic beverage. In 2025,  the volume of deliveries exceeded $700 million," Shoigu said.

According to him, the volume of remittances from Russia to Armenia  reached almost $3.9 billion last year.  "This is almost two-thirds of  the total volume of remittances, or more than 13% of Armenia's GDP,"  he stated. "One can hardly dispute the fact that the primary driver  of growth for the Armenian economy is cooperation with Russia. The  development of economic ties with us enabled Armenia's GDP to grow by  nearly 40% from 2022 to 2025 alone," he said.