Armenia's President Vahagn Khachaturyan, France's President Emmanuel Macron and Armenia's Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan toast during a state dinner in honor of Macron at the presidential palace in Yerevan on May 4, 2026. LUDOVIC MARIN / AFP
Armenia has chosen the path "towards Europe," French President Emmanuel Macron said during a visit to Yerevan on Monday, May 4, as the landlocked post-Soviet state cautiously shifts away from Russia's political orbit. Armenia has been building ties with Europe for years, amid frustration in the country over Moscow's perceived failure to protect it during conflicts with neighboring Azerbaijan.
"For decades, we had become somewhat accustomed to Armenia being, in a way, a satellite of Russia," Macron told members of Armenia's French community in the capital Yerevan. "Armenia has indeed made the choice... to break free from this constraint and turn towards Europe."
Macron also said France had provided material support for Armenia during conflicts with Azerbaijan. "Russia was not there, any more than it is there for Venezuela when there are problems."
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