Withdrawal from the Eurasian Economic Union would go contrary to Armenia’s interest, Deputy Russian Foreign Minister Alexander Pankin has said in an interview with RIA Novosti.

On January 1, the chairmanship of the EAEU passed from Russia to Armenia. According to Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, the country continues to develop relations, “trying to suppress all attempts to politicize Eurasian integration.”

According to Pankin, cooperation within the EAEU is effective for Armenia; over the past few years, the country has become a leader within the union in such indicators as GDP growth, investment in fixed capital, volume of construction, etc.

“All this was largely made possible thanks to the single market within the union, the freedom of movement of labor resources, the simplicity of the procedure for opening enterprises, preferential terms for energy supplies, and so on. Thus, from an economic point of view, membership in the union is certainly beneficial for Yerevan, and refusing it, in our opinion, would be contrary to the interests of the country,” the diplomat said.

In early February, Pashinyan, speaking at a meeting of the Eurasian Intergovernmental Council, said that in 2023, Armenia’s trade turnover with the EAEU countries increased by 39% compared to the previous year and amounted to about $7.8 billion.