Armenia wants to leave Russia for EU

In Armenia, the results of a survey on Russian-Armenian relations conducted by the Center for Globalization and Regional Cooperation were announced. They turned out to be unexpected.

Thus, 50.67% of Armenians believe that the country's accession to the EAEU had a negative impact, while only 45.33% of respondents assessed positively this decision. 23% of respondents attributed the deterioration of the economy to the country's accession to the EAEU, and 37% did not interconnect these events, the head of the Center for Globalization and Regional Cooperation, Stepan Grigoryan said.

Armenia’s clear manifestation of Western orientation means for Russia that Yerevan from ally in the South Caucasus will become a loyalist of its competitors, which means that Armenia itself will become a rival. And this is incompatible with the status of a strategic ally. "Moscow will have to  reduce drastically the level of cooperation with Armenia and withdraw the guarantees of its military protection. Moscow does not guarantee the inviolability and integrity of the Western allies. Moreover, if Armenia ceases to be Russia's strategic ally in the region, Moscow will also have to look for other allies there. For a number of reasons such an ally can only be Azerbaijan. Russia will need to reorient itself, and this should happen with a certain correction of Russia’s position on Nagorno-Karabakh. This will have very negative consequences for Armenia, " a political analyst, Andrei Epifantsev told Vestnik Kavkaza.

"I would not yet absolutize the results of this poll, but it is obvious that in Armenia, dissatisfaction and criticism of Russia is growing, the society is looking for a way out of the deteriorating situation. The window of possibilities for this country is limited, it is difficult to predict what will happen next,  but it is clear that the authorities of the country will use such changes in the public opinion as a tool to get more guarantees from Russia, " the political analyst said.