Multiple reports confirmed that Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney attended the European Political Community summit in Yerevan on Tuesday, becoming the first non-European leader to participate in the forum. Carney said the international order will be rebuilt out of Europe, as leaders gathered to discuss shifting alliances and security challenges.
According to multiple news outlets, the EPC summit, established in 2022 after Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, brought together over 30 European leaders and Carney. Carney stated that Europe and Canada are not destined to submit to a more brutal world. The summit, championed by French President Emmanuel Macron, also included the UK and focused on geopolitical tensions.
We realised that the security architecture that we are in was not working.
Armenia’s accelerating pivot to Europe dominated discussions. Multiple reports indicate that in March 2025, Armenia’s parliament passed a law to begin the process of joining the European Union, and Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has declared an intention to join. Armenia suspended its membership in the Russia-led CSTO in 2024, according to news reports. A first-ever bilateral EU-Armenia summit was held after the EPC meeting, multiple sources said. European Commissioner Marta Kos said that Armenia and the EU have never been closer. Macron said that eight years ago, Armenia was seen as a de facto satellite of Russia and nobody would have come. He added that Armenia is being attacked daily because of its derisking from Russia. According to BBC News, Sargis Khandanyan described that the security architecture Armenia was in was not working, and there is public demand for closer relations with the EU. The specific commitments the EU will make at the bilateral summit regarding funding or visa liberalization remain unclear.
Russia has warned against Armenia’s European integration. President Vladimir Putin said that joining both the EU and the Eurasian Economic Union is impossible. Putin noted that Russia sells gas to Armenia at $177.50 per 1,000 cubic meters, compared to $600 in Europe. Armenia remains heavily dependent on Russia for energy resources and buys Russian gas at a preferential rate, according to multiple reports. How Russia will respond to Armenia’s closer ties beyond Putin’s warning is uncertain.
The physical presence of the European Union shifted the perceptions of our citizens.
The peace process between Armenia and Azerbaijan remains fragile, according to news agencies. In August 2025, Armenia and Azerbaijan signed a landmark agreement at the White House aimed at ending decades of conflict, but the exact terms have not been disclosed. Azerbaijan’s parliament voted to suspend ties with the European Parliament, multiple reports said. The EU has deployed a civilian monitoring mission along the Armenia-Azerbaijan border. According to The Guardian, Thomas de Waal said European leaders must walk a fine line in Yerevan, balancing support for Pashinyan with a bigger conversation about building a more robust Armenia.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy visited Armenia for the first time since 2019, according to reports. Zelenskyy proposed resuming work of the Joint Intergovernmental Commission on Economic Cooperation. He said Russia will face a crucial moment in the summer to either expand the war or move to diplomacy.
We realised there is a public demand for closer relations with the EU.
Broader geopolitical discussions included US-Iran tensions, multiple sources said. Trump’s plan to pull more than 5,000 troops out of Germany was a major subject of discussion. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said that some alliances are not in the place where we would want them to be. Canada is determined to build a new network of trade and diplomatic alliances after loss of US markets under Trump, according to news reports. Armenia’s Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan faces parliamentary elections in June 2026.