Russia recalls ambassador from Yerevan as Armenia's EU turn heads to the ballot box

Russia recalled its ambassador to Armenia, Sergei Kopyrkin, "for consultations" on 30 May, eight days before Armenia's decisive 7 June parliamentary elections. The Foreign Ministry in Moscow said the envoy was summoned home to discuss "the Armenian leadership's steps toward closer ties with the European Union, which are undermining cooperation within the Eurasian Economic Union." The recall capped a week of escalating pressure: at a Eurasian Economic Union summit in Astana on 29 May, President Vladimir Putin invoked what he called the "Ukrainian scenario" to warn Yerevan against EU alignment, and the leaders of Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan called on Armenia to hold a national referendum "as soon as possible" on choosing between the EU and the Moscow-led bloc.

The four also launched a formal review of Armenia's EAEU membership, warning that its EU accession course could lead to suspension from the organisation by December. Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan's government has pursued a European path since Armenia's parliament adopted an EU accession bill in 2025, and the June election is widely framed as a geopolitical choice between Brussels and Moscow.