00:03Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said that Armenia would begin preparing to apply for EU membership.
00:09It represents a historic geopolitical shift for a country formerly in Russia's orbit and for the South Caucasus as a
00:16whole.
00:17In a speech to Parliament, Pashinyan said Armenia would organize a referendum after formally applying to join the EU in
00:24the near future.
00:25Armenia is currently a member of the Russia-led Collective Security Treaty Organization.
00:30Yerevan was given an ultimatum a few months ago from Alliance members to choose between continuing its membership or taking
00:38its own path towards the EU.
00:40Russian President Vladimir Putin also made it clear Armenia's EU accession would be incompatible with Yerevan's Eurasian Economic Union membership.
00:59In response to Pashinyan's announcement, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said that Armenia's departure from the CSTO may trigger what he
01:09called deep trade contradictions that will primarily harm Armenia.
01:14Russia-ly used to have an overwhelming 15 months before the EU and Kremlin referendum as a part of the
01:17EU.
01:17Russia-led pot of trade
Comments