Leonid Slutsky, Chairman of the Russian State Duma Committee on International Affairs, described the European Union’s plan to remove customs duties on 80 percent of Armenian exports as “cheese in the European mousetrap.”
In a statement on his Telegram channel, Slutsky told the Armenian government that “the cheese won’t be free.”
The EU’s plan and Slutsky’s reaction
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced in Yerevan on Thursday that the EU plans to remove customs duties on 80 percent of Armenian exports. Von der Leyen said this mechanism would open European doors to nearly 99 percent of Armenia’s fresh agricultural products, vegetables, fruits, and organic goods, as well as 90 percent of its alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverage exports.
Slutsky claimed that these trade privileges are in exchange for using the Ukrainian experience to establish an anti-Russian base on Armenian soil. According to Slutsky, it is the Armenian people who will feel the negative consequences of such a step the most.
The Russian lawmaker asserted that “it won’t be possible to sit on two chairs,” adding that Yerevan must either maintain its Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) membership or opt for European integration, with the latter implying the surrender of sovereignty and tutelage under Brussels.
Background
Armenia adopted a law in the spring of 2025 expressing its intention to join the EU, but the bloc has not offered the country membership. Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan stated that Yerevan understands the incompatibility of simultaneous EU and EAEU membership but would harmonize its agendas with both unions as much as possible.
State Duma Chairman Vyacheslav Volodin said in early June that Pashinyan is using the EAEU as a stepping stone to the EU and is trying to resolve his problems through the EAEU, primarily Russia.
