Russia warns Armenia it will cut off gas supplies if it joins the European Union

(Patria) - Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova stated that Moscow has informed the Armenian Foreign Ministry about the potential cancellation of the intergovernmental agreement on gas, oil products, and diamond supplies if Yerevan joins the European Union, TASS reported.

According to the agreement signed between Armenia and Russia in 2013, Russia supplies Armenia with gas, oil products, and rough diamonds without export duties and under preferential terms related to domestic consumption.

Supply Routes

The Russian-Armenian joint-stock company "Gazprom Armenia," founded in December 1997 (wholly owned by Gazprom), is the monopolist in the sale of natural gas on the domestic market.

Gas is supplied to Armenia via Georgia through the North Caucasus-Transcaucasus gas pipeline, which was commissioned in 1988.

Besides Russia, Armenia receives natural gas from Iran. However, all supplies from Iran via the Tabriz-Meghri pipeline are carried out under the "gas for electricity" agreement signed in 2004 and are primarily used for electricity generation for Iran. Armenia retains any surplus gas within the agreed rules (usually about a third of the total production).

Contract with Gazprom

Gazprom and Gazprom Armenia signed a contract on December 2, 2013, for the supply of Russian gas to Armenia from 2014 to 2018 (up to 2.5 billion cubic meters annually).

At the same time, intergovernmental agreements were signed on cooperation in supplying Armenia with natural gas, oil products, and rough diamonds, as well as on the procedures for determining prices for the supply of Russian gas to Armenia.

According to the gas pricing document, the fuel price was reduced from $270 to $189 per 1,000 cubic meters (due to the abolition of a thirty percent customs duty).

The Russian Ministry of Energy and the Armenian Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources signed a Protocol on Amendments to the Agreement on Procedures for Determining Prices for Natural Gas Supplies to Armenia on September 7, 2015. The document established a reduction in the base price for Russian gas supplied to Armenia from $189 to $165 per 1,000 cubic meters.

In early 2016, Armenia requested Russia to reduce the price of supplied gas. An addendum to the contract between Gazprom Export and Gazprom Armenia for the period 2014-2018 was signed on April 7, 2016. The gas price for Armenia was reduced from $165 to $150.

From January 1, 2019, the price of Russian gas for Armenia increased again to $165 per 1,000 cubic meters. In 2022, Moscow and Yerevan signed an additional intergovernmental gas agreement, according to which the base price of Russian gas will remain unchanged until the end of July 2032 - $165 per 1,000 cubic meters, but the quality of the supplied fuel - its calorific value (heating value) - will be taken into account in the price calculation.

In April 2026, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced that Armenia receives gas at a price of $177.5 per 1,000 cubic meters. For comparison, as of the end of May 2026, market gas prices in the European Union are around $550 per 1,000 cubic meters.

In 2022, Russia supplied Armenia with about 2.6 billion cubic meters of gas. In 2023 and 2024, 2.4 billion cubic meters were supplied annually, and last year, 2.3 billion cubic meters of gas, TASS reports.