Armenia to prepare EU membership bid, Pashinyan says

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan told parliament on Monday that Armenia may soon start the process needed to submit an official application to join the European Union, while Moscow warned against deeper European integration.

Pashinyan said Armenia must first submit an official EU membership application. He said the process could begin "in the near future" and that Armenia would hold a referendum on membership after lodging a bid.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Monday that the trade, sanitary and customs rules of the EU and Russian-led blocs did not match. He also pointed to Turkey and other countries whose EU applications were submitted decades ago but have not led to membership.

Armenia is formally allied with Moscow and belongs to the Eurasian Economic Union, while also building ties with the EU. Russia has a military base in Armenia and has warned that membership in both Western and Russian blocs is incompatible.