Armenian lawmakers approved a draft legislation to launch the process leading to the country's EU accession process on Wednesday.
Local media reported that 63 members of parliament in the country in the South Caucasus supported the move, while seven voted against it. The bill is based on a citizens' initiative that collected 60,000 signatures in favor of it. A second reading is still pending.
The government of the former Soviet republic introduced the bill in early January. The pro-Western Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said at the time that Armenia could only become an EU member if Armenians voted in favor of it in a referendum.
Speaking at the session, opposition politician Artur Khachatryan said that the proposal was a damaging bluff with which the governing faction was jeopardizing the country's foreign policy. The country could face a crucial test, he said, with people there fearing economic repercussions, for example, higher gas prices.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has already stated that Armenia's accession to the EU would be incompatible with the country's membership of the Eurasian Economic Union (EAWU).
Russia's deputy head of government Alexey Overtchuk told the Russian state news agency TASS that Russia regards the parliamentary deliberation of the draft bill as the beginning of Armenia's withdrawal.
Russia has long been considered Armenia's protective power, but relations between Moscow and Yerevan have cooled recently.
In the two most recent armed confrontations between Azerbaijan and Armenia over the Karabakh region, Russia remained passive despite the fact that a Russian peacekeeping force is stationed in the area.
