To Punish Yerevan, Moscow Should Tighten Control Over or Even Expel Armenians from Russia, Some Russian Commentators Suggest

Paul Goble

            Staunton, April 9 – Following Yerevan’s moves away from Moscow and toward the West and what was a tense meeting in the Kremlin between Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Russian President Vladimir Putin, Russian commentators are discussing how Moscow should punish Yerevan in an attempt to force it into line.

            Pashinyan has already warned that if Moscow raises the price of gas it now sells to Armenia, Yerevan will leave the main alliances that Russia has set up to dominate the former Soviet space, a threat that means that choice would rapidly prove counterproductive and lead Armenia to move even more quickly away from the Russian Federation.

            Closing the Russian base at Gyumri in Armenia is not something Moscow wants to think about either, but in the views of some in Moscow its status is likely to be reviewed and changed if the situation continues. And so now some in the Russian capital are focusing on moving against the Armenian diaspora in Russia as a way of punishing Yerevan.

            Among those advocating a new tough line against the Armenian diaspora is Leonid Krutakov of the Russian Finance University. He says that Russia has been too welcoming and has allowed Armenians to earn a lot of money that often escapes Russian taxes and that Russians should ask “if it isn’t time to put an end to this (svpressa.ru/weather/article/510232/).

            Just what such moves could look like is suggested by Russian actions against the Azerbaijani diaspora in the Russian Federation, actions that have soured relations between Moscow and Baku beyond any easy repair. But any such move against the Armenian diaspora in the Russian Federation would likely backfire very quickly against Moscow.

            Unlike the Central Asian and Caucasian migrant workers in Russia, the Armenian diaspora consists of highly educated and strategically placed individuals who have for decades played a key role in Russian intellectual life and administration. Going after then as Moscow has against the Armenians could lead to their flight and to huge losses for Russia.

            Nonetheless, the Kremlin appears to be laying the groundwork for expulsions of people like the Armenians, pushing for legislation that will make it easier for the Russian authorities to expel not just migrant workers from Central Asia and the Caucasus generally but also well-educated foreigners like the Armenians who’ve been in Russia for decades (ng.ru/politics/2026-04-09/1_9472_control.html).