Crisis inevitable in Armenia if it leaves EAEU - SVR

Brussels realizes the inevitability of a deep economic crisis in Armenia if Yerevan leaves the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU), the press service of the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) said.

"Brussels realizes the inevitability of a deep economic crisis in Armenia if Yerevan finds itself outside the Eurasian Economic Union. They underscore that zeroing out revenues from participation in Eurasian integration will not allow the stability of the Armenian authorities, which are 'rowing' towards the EU, to be ensured at the expense of EAEU members," the press bureau said.

The EU is enticing Armenia to join, but cannot help it, the SVR press service said.

"The EU institutions acknowledge that the growing economic problems in the EU, caused by the anti-Russian sanctions policy and the obsessive desire of European bureaucrats to support the war in Ukraine, will not allow Brussels to compensate Yerevan for the billions in costs," the statement reads.

At the same time Brussels bureaucrats "will continue to assure Yerevan of their unconditional support."

"The EU intends to explain the delay in providing concrete assistance by saying that joining the EU will depend entirely on Yerevan and its 'achievements' on the path to European integration," the SVR said.

According to the Foreign Intelligence Service, "this policy is supposed to be encouraged by manipulating the prospects of visa liberalization for Armenian citizens and promises in the 'wonderful future' to turn Armenia into a 'prosperous crossroads of the world.'"