Armenian PM Makes First Trip to Russia Since Re-Election Amid Food Import Ban

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan arrived in Russia on Monday to attend the plenary session of the annual Innoprom industrial exhibition in Yekaterinburg. This is his first visit to the country since his ruling party secured a parliamentary majority in June's elections.

According to his press service, Pashinyan is also scheduled to meet with Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin. A video shared on Pashinyan's official Telegram channel showed Yekaterinburg Mayor Alexei Orlov greeting him at the local airport with a traditional Russian bread-and-salt welcome.

In June, Russia accused Western countries of interfering in Armenia's elections after Pashinyan's party won. Prior to and following the vote, Russia imposed sweeping import bans on Armenian produce, beverages and other goods, citing alleged health and safety violations.

Armenia's central bank estimates that the Russian import bans, widely seen as a pressure campaign over Yerevan's pursuit of closer ties with the European Union, impact roughly 2% of the South Caucasus country's gross domestic product.

The EU, which welcomed the election results, has pledged economic support to Yerevan and vowed to remove tariffs from nearly 80% of Armenian imports in response to Russia's restrictions.

Friction between traditional allies Russia and Armenia has grown since Azerbaijan regained control of the breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh in 2023. Armenia accused Russia and its peacekeeping forces of failing to deter Baku's military offensive, and in 2024 froze its participation in a Moscow-led regional security bloc. Pashinyan has since skipped a number of summits and events hosted or attended by Russian President Vladimir Putin.