Pashinian confirmed his participation in the celebration in a phone call with Putin which the Kremlin said took place “at the initiative of the Armenian side.”
According to the official Armenian and Russian readouts of the call, he informed Putin about the completion of Armenian-Azerbaijani negotiations on a bilateral peace treaty. A Kremlin statement cited the Russian leader as saying that “Russia always stood and stands for the normalization of Armenian-Azerbaijani relations” and remains ready to assist the two South Caucasus nations in that endeavor.
“Some issues of further development of mutually beneficial Russian-Armenian relations were also touched upon,” added the statement. “The Prime Minister of Armenia confirmed that he accepts the invitation of the President of Russia and will participate in the jubilee celebrations on May 9 in Moscow on the occasion of the 80th anniversary of Victory in the Great Patriotic War.”
The Armenian premier’s press office said nothing about that in its statement on the conversation.
Over the last two years, Pashinian’s government has minimized diplomatic contacts with Moscow and reoriented its foreign policy towards the West, causing an unprecedented rift between Armenia and Russia. As recently as in late December, Pashinian skipped meetings in Saint Petersburg of the leaders of Russia and other ex-Soviet states.
Yerevan further underlined the pro-Western tilt in its foreign policy in early January when it endorsed a bill declaring the “start of a process of Armenia's accession to the European Union.” Despite stern warnings from Moscow, the Armenian parliament approved the bill in the first reading last month.
The parliament controlled by Pashinian’s Civil Contract party was due to pass it in the second and final reading earlier this month. But that was postponed indefinitely for what a senior pro-government lawmaker called “technical” reasons.
The unexpected delay fueled speculation that Pashinian and his political team are having second thoughts about the EU membership bid due to the unfolding thaw in U.S.-Russian relations and the EU’s deepening rift with the U.S. administration of President Donald Trump. Commentators have suggested that the increasingly likely freezing of the war in Ukraine would strengthen Russia’s hand in the South Caucasus. They have also pointed out that no EU member state has voiced support for the prospect of Armenia’s membership in the 27-nation bloc.