
Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan received Russian Deputy Prime Minister Aleksei Overchuk roughly two weeks after Armenia and Azerbaijan agreed on the Trump Route.
According to Pashinyan’s office readout, the two discussed bilateral issues and the ‘current topics of cooperation within the framework of the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU)’ during their meeting on Wednesday.
The release also noted that they ‘exchanged views on other issues of mutual interest’ — an apparent vague reference to the agreements reached between Armenia, Azerbaijan, and the US on 8 August, which saw Yerevan and Baku initial the peace treaty, and the three countries agreeing to establish the Trump Road for International Peace and Prosperity (TRIPP).

The readout did not provide detailed insight into the talks, but Overchuk noted on 15 August that his visit was planned in advance, and was connected to an unnamed normative legal act, which ‘appeared in the legal framework of Armenia, which, in our opinion, contradicts the law of the EAEU’.
In addition to this, Overchuk said his upcoming meeting with Pashinyan, would include discussions of ‘certain nuances that are primarily related to unblocking [transit links] in the South Caucasus region’.
On the same day, talking about the Trump Route, Overchuk noted that ‘Armenia is our strategic ally, and if Armenia believes that something is good for them, then of course we support Armenia here’.
Aside from Pashinyan, Overchuk was also received by Deputy Prime Minister Mher Grigoryan — during the meeting, they also discussed bilateral cooperation.
Overchuk and Grigoryan are co-chairs of the Armenian–Russian Intergovernmental Commission on Economic Cooperation.
They ‘highlighted the importance of unblocking regional communications based on full respect for the principles of territorial integrity, sovereignty, jurisdiction, and reciprocity of countries’.
Following the Washington agreements, Yerevan has hosted high-level representatives not only from Russia, but also from Iran, the two major regional players, which have constantly spoken out against the Western involvement in settling the regional issues.
Pashinyan received Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian on Tuesday, prior to Overchuk’s visit.
