Politician: Armenia needs to engage in dialogue with Russia, not sit  back and wait for it to weaken before dictating its will

ArmInfo. Armenia needs to engage in dialogue with Russia, not sit back and wait, as if Russia  will become so weakened in the Ukrainian war that Armenia will  dictate its will.  David Manukyan, head of the Country for Life party  faction in the Yerevan City Council, wrote this on his Facebook page.

The politician recalled that starting July 27, the import of Armenian  dairy products to the Russian market will also be banned.

According to him, the worst thing is that the place of Armenian  products on the Russian market is quickly being taken over by goods  from other countries, primarily Azerbaijani and Turkish.

Manukyan believes that the more this situation worsens, the more  difficult it will be to re-enter the Russian market, even for  objective reasons. At the same time, the politician is confident that  the economic consequences of these steps will be very severe for  Armenia, and these processes will not end there.

"The current government is incapable of providing a clear explanation  for the current situation or finding solutions. They no longer talk  about colorful dreams of Europe. It seems that even they themselves  are becoming ashamed of deceiving their own people so completely. We  need to talk to Russia, not sit and wait, as if Russia will become so  weakened in the Ukrainian war that we will dictate our will to it.  Nothing of the sort will happen, and those who govern the country  with such hopes are criminals. We need to negotiate with Russia, we  need to solve the problems, but we have neither negotiators nor  anyone who could resolve the issues that have arisen. And Macron, who  congratulated Pashinyan that day, will do nothing to help Armenia.  It's not that he doesn't want to, but he simply won't be able to,"  Manukyan concluded.

As a reminder, in April, Russia introduced gradual restrictions on  the import of Armenian agricultural products. The official reason  cited was sanitary and phytosanitary violations and a lack of safety  oversight by authorized Armenian agencies. The real reason for the  restrictions, however, is the overt anti-Russian actions of the  Armenian leadership, amid Yerevan's course toward rapprochement with  the European Union. These "sanctions" have already led to a decline  in trade: in the first five months of 2026, mutual trade volumes  between Armenia and Russia fell by 21.5% compared to the same period  last year.  Difficulties have arisen in agricultural exports: due to  the blockage of supplies during the summer peak season, exports of  Armenian fruits, vegetables, and flowers saw a sharp decline of  74.5%. Experts estimate that financial losses to businesses amount to  tens of millions of dollars, threatening the mass bankruptcy of  hundreds of greenhouse and farm enterprises.