Armenia has geared up for a parliamentary election on June 7 that is set to test Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s pivot towards the West, as the country faces accusations of interference from Russia, its former imperial ruler.
Though the two are technically allies, Moscow has compared Armenia’s European Union ambitions to the path it claims triggered its 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
The election follows years of upheaval since Pashinyan was swept to power in a 2018 street revolution. The small Caucasus country is still reeling from foe Azerbaijan’s 2023 takeover of the Karabakh region and the exodus of its 100,000 ethnic Armenians.
Pashinyan has framed the ballot as a choice between lasting peace with Azerbaijan or a return to war. The 51-year-old has also sought to loosen dependence on Moscow, after it failed to help during the Karabakh conflict.
He has frozen participation in a Russia-led security bloc while deepening ties with the European Union and the United States, setting Armenia on a path towards possible EU membership.
US President Donald Trump has offered his “TOTAL Endorsement for Re-Election” to “great friend and Leader” Pashinyan. Moscow, though, has bristled at the possible loss of another ally in its backyard.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said in May that the war in Ukraine had begun with Kyiv’s attempt to join the EU, in a pointed warning to Armenia. The Kremlin has also been accused of seeking to sway the vote.
Pashinyan has insisted he does not want a rupture. “We did not have, do not have, and will not have any intention of harming Russia’s interests,” he told journalists.
He has warned that Armenia could face a “catastrophic war” with Azerbaijan within months if his Civil Contract party, which is leading the polls, fails to win a strong majority. His opponents say that is fearmongering.
Samvel Karapetyan, a billionaire Russian-Armenian businessman whose Strong Armenia party is polling second, has rejected claims he would drag Armenia back into Russia’s orbit. He has been under house arrest since 2025 on coup charges he says are politically motivated.
President Emmanuel Macron of France threw his support behind Pashinyan during a high-profile visit in May. A late-May survey by the International Republican Institute put Civil Contract at 32 per cent, with the two main opposition forces polling at 9 per cent combined.
