https://video.echelon.pl/videos/watch/2354add5-069b-4603-bced-fbc0b7b609a4 During the second leg of her South Caucasus visit, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen visited Armenia, promising to open EU markets to the country’s produce, after Russia, Armenia’s largest trading partner, closed its market following the re-election of pro-Western prime minister Nikol Pashinyan. Can Armenia escape Moscow’s orbit? Does it even want to? Pashinyan is “creating more options for his party and for Armenia. But it’s not like they want to break away from close cooperation with Russia, especially in economy,” said Marcin Zaborowski, TVP World’s Europe Editor. “So we are nowhere near this situation where Armenia is running away from that relationship to embrace the West.” But he adds, that Pashinyan needs time to diversify his country’s options. For that reason, the EU has stepped in to prop up Armenia’s economy by opening its markets and is also trying to facilitate the normalization of its relationship with its neighbors and traditional enemies, Azerbaijan and Turkey. Putin “is basically telling the Armenians: ‘If you get closer to these Europeans, then you're losing all the trade links with us, and all the security. (...) He essentially keeps blackmailing the Armenians,” Zaborowski concludes, noting that this leverage, however, has lost its power, due to Russia’s failure to come to their country’s aid twice: in 2020 and in 2023, when it was attacked by Azerbaijan, resulting in the loss of control over Nagorno-Karabakh. Join News in Depth’s host, Aaron Dahmen, and his guest as they explore the centuries-long history that pushed Armenia into Russia’s orbit, can the country escape it, and what does Europe have to offer that Russia cannot, and can it deliver on its promises better than the former protector? Chapters: 00:00 Armenia’s shift away from Russia 02:17 Russia’s pressure during the election campaign fails 03:58 Will Russia fulfil its threats about a “Ukrainian scenario” for Armenia? 06:37 Pashinyan’s balancing act 06:46 The EU opens its markets 09:10 Armenia’s security gaps and Russia’s failure as traditional protector 11:56 Importance of peace deal with Azerbaijan to facilitate regional realignment 13:22 Prospect for EU membership and further Western integration 15:20 Geostrategic parallels between Armenia today and Poland during Cold War 17:47 Armenia as a potential model for post-Soviet countries’ Western reorientation #armenia #russia #west #europe 🔴 Watch our 24/7 livestream - https://youtube.com/live/9RY46AUtIl4 Bringing you all the latest daily news and updates, TVP World is Poland's first English-language channel where you can find world news as seen from the Polish perspective and the latest news from the CEE region. Follow us on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram. https://tvpworld.com/ https://www.facebook.com/tvpworldcom https://twitter.com/TVPWorld_com https://www.instagram.com/tvp_world/ https://www.threads.net/@tvp_world https://bsky.app/profile/tvpworld.bsky.social https://www.tiktok.com/@tvpworld.com https://t.me/tvp_world Fri, 03 Jul 2026 12:54:34 GMT https://validator.w3.org/feed/docs/rss2.html PeerTube - https://video.echelon.pl https://video.echelon.pl/client/assets/images/icons/icon-1500x1500.png https://video.echelon.pl/videos/watch/2354add5-069b-4603-bced-fbc0b7b609a4 All rights reserved, unless otherwise specified in the terms specified at https://video.echelon.pl/about and potential licenses granted by each content's rightholder.