European leaders converge on Armenia as Russia looks on

Key developments are emerging from the global stage. European leaders converge on Armenia as Russia looks on 1 hour ago Share Save Add as preferred on Google Rayhan Demytrie South Caucasus correspondent, in Yerevan via Getty Images Armenia's Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan (C) pictured with the leaders of the European Commission and European Council in July European leaders are descending on Armenia for two unprecedented summits in a country long considered Russia's closest ally in the South Caucasus. The symbolism for this country of fewer than three million people is hard to overstate; Armenia is a member of Russian President Vladimir Putin's Eurasian Economic Union, and Moscow hosts a military base on Armenian soil. On Monday, more than 30 European leaders and Canada's prime minister will take part in a European Political Community (EPC) summit in the capital Yerevan.

Tuesday will then see the first ever bilateral EU-Armenia summit, attended by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Council President António Costa. Armenia is heavily dependent on Russia for energy resources. It buys Russian gas at a preferential rate - which Putin made a point of spelling out when Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan visited Moscow on 1 April.

The Details

Russia sells gas to Armenia for $177. 30) per 1,000 cubic metres, he noted, while in Europe it costs $600 (£440. "The difference is large, it is significant," the Russian president said.

How did a country this embedded in Russia's orbit end up hosting most of Europe's leaders? Pavel Bednyakov/POOL/ Pashinyan with Putin at the Kremlin in April. Armenia is considered Russia's closest ally in the region.

The turning point was Armenia's 2023 war with its neighbour Azerbaijan. When Azerbaijan launched a lightning military operation to complete its takeover of Nagorno-Karabakh - expelling more than 100,000 ethnic Armenians - Russia, which had peacekeepers on the ground, stood aside. Earlier Azerbaijani incursions into Armenian territory had also gone unanswered by the Russia-led Collective Security Treaty Organisation.

What Experts Say

"We realised that the security architecture that we are in was not working," Sargis Khandanyan, chairman of the foreign relations committee at Armenia's National Assembly, told the . The EU deployed a monitoring mission on Armenia's border with Azerbaijan before war broke out in 2023 The EU had the year before brokered a border recognition deal, along which it deployed a civilian monitoring mission. "The physical presence of the European Union shifted the perceptions of our citizens," said Khandanyan.

"We realised there is a public demand for closer relations with the EU. " In March 2025, Armenia's parliament passed a law to launch the process of joining the EU. The peace process between Armenia and Azerbaijan has also accelerated.

In August, their leaders signed a landmark agreement at the White House aimed at ending decades of conflict between them .

The development has drawn wide international attention, with diplomatic circles watching closely.