Mikheil Saakashvili urged Armenia not to give in to Russian blackmail
Former Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili addressed the Armenian people on the eve of the parliamentary elections, urging them not to repeat his country’s mistakes and not to abandon their European course due to the Kremlin’s threats to cut off energy supplies. He emphasized that Georgia, too, had once been completely cut off from Russian gas, yet managed to successfully diversify its imports and purchase fuel from other neighbors at a significantly lower price.
This was reported by the Armenian publication Panorama.
The politician’s statement came after the official representative office of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced the possible unilateral termination of preferential economic agreements with Yerevan should the republic’s integration process into the European Union continue.
The diplomatic tension was triggered by an official letter from Russian Energy Minister Sergei Tsivilov, which the Russian embassy delivered to the Armenian side. In the document, Moscow clearly states that Yerevan’s further rapprochement with Brussels will lead to the suspension or complete denunciation of the bilateral intergovernmental agreement of December 2, 2013. This step would mean the immediate cancellation of existing preferences and the cessation of duty-free supplies to Armenia of natural gas, petroleum products, and rough diamonds. The Armenian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has already officially confirmed receipt of this letter from the Russian ministry.
Under the framework agreement signed in 2013, Russia supplied Armenia’s domestic needs for energy resources and raw materials on special preferential terms without imposing export duties. The volume of Russian natural gas supplies to the republic has shown a gradual decline in recent years. Specifically, in 2022, volumes amounted to approximately 2.6 billion cubic meters; in 2023 and 2024, Russia exported 2.4 billion cubic meters each year; and by the end of 2025, the figure had fallen to 2.3 billion cubic meters of gas.
As a reminder, Russia threatened Armenia with cutting off preferential supplies of gas, oil, and diamonds if Yerevan continues its move toward the European Union.
Earlier, Armenia appealed to the EU to send a rapid response team to counter Russian influence.
Armenia could receive visa-free travel to the EU within two years — Pashinyan.
