Shoigu: Armenia has turned to the West, pressure on Russian businesses

Russia’s Security Council Secretary Sergei Shoigu has sharply criticized Yerevan for moving away from its strategic alliance with Moscow and turning toward the West, accusing Armenia’s leadership of exerting unlawful pressure on enterprises operating with Russian capital.

The Operative Information Center-OMM reports that he made the remarks at a meeting of the presidium of the Scientific and Expert Council of Russia’s Security Council.

According to the report, Shoigu described Armenia’s withdrawal from the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) and the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) in the South Caucasus, along with its expanding cooperation with NATO and the European Union, as a “consumer attitude.” The Russian official said Moscow would not finance Armenia’s integration process with Europe or the economic consequences it could create. He also called Yerevan’s policy toward Russian-invested companies, including the railway network, “raider-style seizure” and absurd.

Addressing the geopolitical situation in the region, Shoigu said the United States and the EU were seeking to weaken the positions of Russia and Iran. He also noted that trade turnover with Georgia increased by 20.7% to $1.8 billion in January-July 2026, and stressed that the previous period of crisis between Moscow and Baku had been overcome through joint efforts.

The Eurasian Economic Union is a regional economic bloc that includes Russia, Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan. The CSTO is a Russia-led collective security organization whose members include several post-Soviet states.