Armenian PM Pashinyan to Join EAEU Summit via Video Link

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan will join the plenary session of the Eurasian Economic Forum via an online video conference, Russian Presidential Aide Yury Ushakov said on Wednesday.

"All of the leaders bound for Minsk will take part in it [the plenary session of the Eurasian Economic Forum], except for Pashinyan, who will participate in absentia via video link," Ushakov said at a news briefing, The Caspian Post reports, citing TASS.

Russian Presidential Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said last Friday that Moscow regretted Pashinyan’s decision to skip the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) summit in Minsk. Peskov said that Armenia is a country that "derives major economic gains from being an EAEU member. Membership in the EAEU contributes notably to the growth of the Armenian economy each year."

The EAEU, established by a treaty signed in Astana on May 29, 2014, is an international organization focused on regional economic integration.

Its goal is to modernize, cooperate, and enhance the competitiveness of member states' national economies, while creating conditions for stable development to improve the living standards of people residing in these countries. The treaty came into force on January 1, 2015. The EAEU comprises Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Russia.