Armenia holds parliamentary elections Sunday under Russian trade restrictions

Armenia holds parliamentary elections on Sunday after Russia banned imports of brandy from three leading producers, including the Abovyan factory that ships seven million bottles a year to the Russian market. The official reason given for the ban was sanitary concerns.

Armenian producers said the action followed a series of similar restrictions on flowers, fish and fruit that together affect roughly 40 percent of the country’s exports.

Background to the vote For three decades after independence in 1991, Armenia hosted Russian troops, purchased Russian weapons and participated in Moscow-led security and economic structures. Relations began to shift after Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan took office following a 2018 revolution.

Pashinyan has pursued closer ties with the European Union and the United States. In April, Yerevan hosted a European Political Community summit attended by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

Security tensions Ties deteriorated further after Azerbaijan took control of Nagorno-Karabakh in 2023. Armenia suspended its membership in the Moscow-led Collective Security Treaty Organisation last year. Russian President Vladimir Putin warned last month that Armenia could face a “Ukrainian scenario” if it continued its European integration course.

Deputy Security Council chair Dmitry Medvedev suggested Pashinyan could meet the same fate as Leon Trotsky.

Election outlook Opinion polls indicate Pashinyan’s Civil Contract party is expected to receive about 30 percent of the vote, ahead of the main opposition Stronger Armenia party led by Russian-Armenian businessman Samvel Karapetyan, who is under house arrest. Analysts cited in the reporting said the trade measures have not reduced support for the governing party and may have reinforced it.