Putin to press Armenia over EU ambitions at Kazakhstan summit, Kremlin says

Russian President Vladimir Putin plans to raise Armenia's pursuit of closer ties with the European Union during an upcoming summit in Kazakhstan, the Kremlin confirmed, according to The Moscow Times.

Kremlin adviser Yury Ushakov stated that "Putin has repeatedly stressed that it is impossible to belong to" both the EU and the Eurasian Economic Union simultaneously. The remark signals Moscow's intention to use the Kazakhstan meeting to pressure Yerevan over its EU ambitions.

Armenia has moved steadily toward the EU in recent years, a shift that has strained its relationship with Moscow. The Kazakhstan summit provides Putin with a multilateral setting to deliver that message directly.

No date for the summit was specified in the report.