European Council President Antonio Costa and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen held talks with Pashinian on the sidelines of the latest European Political Community summit in the Danish capital.
“We congratulated Armenia on the landmark progress with Azerbaijan in Washington, facilitated by [U.S. President Donald] Trump,” Costa and von der Leyen said in identical X posts. “A crucial step towards peace and stability in the region.”
Pashinian has repeatedly stated that peace has already been established between Armenia and Azerbaijan as a result of his August 8 talks with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev hosted by Trump. The latter has likewise claimed to have “helped settle the war” between the two South Caucasus states.
The Washington summit resulted in the initialing of an Armenian-Azerbaijani peace treaty. Also, Pashinian pledged to give the United States exclusive rights to a transit corridor that would connect Azerbaijan to its Nakhichevan exclave through Armenia’s strategic Syunik province. The corridor is to be named the Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity (TRIPP).
An Armenian government statement on the Copenhagen meeting said Pashinian discussed with the EU leaders the results of the August 8 summit and “implementation of the TRIPP project.” It gave no details.
Costa and von der Leyen also described Armenia as a “key partner for the EU” and said they are “determined to deepen our cooperation.” They again said nothing about Yerevan’s declared plans to seek to eventually join the EU.
Amid heightened tensions with Russia, Pashinian’s administration enacted this spring a law declaring the “start of a process of Armenia's accession to the European Union.” EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas hailed the law during a June visit to Yerevan. But she did not say whether the South Caucasus nation can realistically hope to join the 27-nation bloc in the foreseeable future. Costa and von der Leyen also made no mention of such a possibility in a joint statement with Pashinian issued after their previous meeting held in Brussels in July.
Ignoring repeated warnings by Russia, Pashinian said on September 20 that his government will step up “efforts aimed at Armenia's accession to the European Union.” Russia’s Prime Minister Alexei Overchuk reiterated earlier that Armenia risks losing its tariff-free access to the Russian market and other economic privileges if its leadership keeps drifting to the EU.
According to official statistics, Russia accounted for over 35 percent of Armenia’s foreign trade in the first half of this year, compared with the EU’s 12 percent share.