00:03Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said that Armenia would begin preparing to apply for EU membership.
00:09It represents a historic geopolitical shift for a country formerly in Russia's orbit and for the South Caucasus as a
00:16whole.
00:17In a speech to Parliament, Pashinyan said Armenia would organize a referendum after formally applying to join the EU in
00:24the near future.
00:25Armenia is currently a member of the Russia-led Collective Security Treaty Organization.
00:31Yerevan was given an ultimatum a few months ago from alliance members to choose between continuing its membership or taking
00:38its own path towards the EU.
00:40Russian President Vladimir Putin also made it clear Armenia's EU accession would be incompatible with Yerevan's Eurasian Economic Union membership.
00:59In response to Pashinyan's announcement, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said that Armenia's departure from the CSTO may trigger what he
01:09called deep trade contradictions that will primarily harm Armenia.
01:13Russian President
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