Armenia has asked the Moscow-led Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) to designate Russia’s growing trade restrictions on Armenian goods as illegal market barriers, the newspaper Kommersant reported Wednesday, citing the South Caucasus country’s economic minister.
Russia has issued sweeping bans on a range of Armenian products this year as Yerevan, Moscow’s historical ally, began the process of joining the European Union. Amid the mounting restrictions, the EU relaxed tariffs on around 80% of Armenian exports for the next two years.
“We consider the [Russian] restrictions against us to be unlawful,” Armenian Economy Minister Gevorg Papoyan told reporters, according to the Kommersant.
“If these restrictions are recognized as a barrier, then Russia is obliged to remove them within 30 days per EAEU procedures,” Papoyan was quoted as saying.
He added that Armenia has already submitted individual appeals to each trade restriction introduced in recent months, and in one case, it allegedly secured the support of three other members of the economic union. However, Russia has used its veto power to block those appeals, Papoyan said.
A translation of Papoyan’s comments cited by Kommersant states that the EAEU will consider Armenia’s latest, more sweeping appeal on Nov. 3. “We’ll see if there will be a tangible result,” he was quoted as saying.
Meanwhile, a joint report released Tuesday by the remaining EAEU members Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan warned that Armenia’s exit from the economic union or alignment with the EU would hit Yerevan’s trade, labor and energy markets.
Relations between Russia and Armenia have soured in recent years after neighboring Azerbaijan took control of the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region in September 2023. Officials in Yerevan accused Russian peacekeepers of failing to protect the region and its Armenian population from advancing Azerbaijani forces during a shock offensive.
