YEREVAN, May 21. /TASS/. Yerevan is not engaged in negotiations with Brussels on Armenia’s accession to the European Union, Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan said at a press conference with his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov.
"The Republic of Armenia has not submitted an application to join the European Union, the talks on this track are not being held and, accordingly, the issue which might have emerged in this regard, is not pertinent," he said, replying to a question by a journalist about the country’s potential simultaneous membership in the EU and the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU).
On March 26, Armenian legislators passed the second and final reading of the law on setting the country’s EU accession process into motion. Earlier, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan pointed out that a referendum needs to be held to decide on launching EU accession. Mirzoyan, in turn, explained that the bill was based on a public initiative, which had gathered a required number of signatures.
Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexey Overchuk stated that Moscow viewed Armenian discussions of the bill on EU membership as the start of the country’s exit from the EAEU. According to him, Armenia cannot be a member of both groups. Meanwhile, Armenian Economy Minister Gevorg Papoyan claimed that Yerevan had no intention to leave the EAEU. He said that Armenia needed to maintain, develop and strengthen the level of relations with the organization, as well as to boost ties with other groups.