Russia said it had summoned its ambassador to Armenia, Sergei Kopirkin, for consultations in Moscow in protest against Yerevan's rapprochement with the European Union ahead of the upcoming elections on June 7, Reuters reported, quoted by BTA.
The Caucasian country - an official ally of Russia with a population of about three million - has deepened its ties with the West in recent years despite its economic dependence on Moscow.
“The Ambassador of the Russian Federation to the Republic of Armenia S.P. Kopyrkin was summoned to Moscow for consultations on the steps taken by the Armenian leadership towards rapprochement with the European Union, the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
The Russian-led economic union of former Soviet republics said on Monday it would consider expelling Armenia over its bid for EU membership and called on Yerevan to hold a referendum.
Opinion polls ahead of the June election show the party of pro-Western Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan leading the pro-Russian opposition.
US President Donald Trump has backed Pashinyan, who came to power after a revolution in 2018 and was re-elected in 2021.
Armenia has said Russia failed to protect it during fighting with neighboring Azerbaijan, with which it has a long-standing dispute over Nagorno-Karabakh - a former "breakaway region with ethnic Armenians" population that Azerbaijan regained in 2023.
Russia said that Western countries were interfering in Armenia's affairs to weaken Russian influence in the former Soviet republics.