Armenia could quit Russia’s NATO-equivalent alliance and economic union if Moscow uses gas as leverage, parliament speaker says

Armenia's parliament speaker, Alen Simonyan, said on 4 April that his country would exit both Russia's collective security alliance and its economic union if Moscow raised gas prices, News.am reported. Simonyan said he does not expect the scenario to materialize, citing a "very good, productive, and fruitful" follow-up conversation between the leaders. 

Putin's gas hint, Simonyan's answer 

At the 1 April meeting in Moscow, Putin hinted that Armenia could face gas supply problems if it moves closer to the EU. 

“Gas prices in Europe exceed 600 dollars per 1,000 m³, whereas Russia provides gas to Armenia at 177.5 per 1,000 m³,” he told Pashinyan, adding that “the disparity is vast, the difference is substantial.”

The Armenian PM reiterated on the same day that Armenia has frozen its participation in the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) — Russia's military alliance covering Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, and Tajikistan — at all levels, calling the decision sufficient for now.

Commenting on the Pashinyan-Putin meeting, Simonyan said such gas price discussions are not new. 

"If they make that decision, Armenia will make its own decision and withdraw from the CSTO, from the Eurasian Economic Union," he said at a briefing before an extraordinary session of the ruling Civil Contract party. He added that Armenia has done nothing against Russia and does not intend to, but "will defend the interests of the Republic of Armenia."

Simonyan said he does not think it will come to an exit, pointing to the productive conversation between the leaders after the Putin-Pashinyan meeting. 

A drift years in the making

Armenia’s drift away from Russia began when Moscow stayed passive as Azerbaijan retook Nagorno-Karabakh, which Armenians had controlled since the 1990s, first partly in 2020, then fully in 2023. That collapse badly damaged Yerevan’s trust in Russia as a security guarantor. The CSTO, despite its NATO-like mutual defense clause, took no action when Armenia appealed to it. 

Armenia froze CSTO participation in February 2024. By September, Pashinyan called it a threat to Armenia’s security and sovereignty.