YEREVAN, JUNE 21, ARMENPRESS. Director of the Oriental Institute of the NAS of Armenia Ruben Safrastyan says Russia wants Azerbaijan to be a part of the Eurasian Economic Union, but Azerbaijan will never become an EAEU member.

“This will limit the opportunities of Azerbaijan to use the huge profits from its oil and gas resources. Azerbaijan will try to refrain from such actions, it will not join any economic and military-political union in order to be able to continue using those profits. That’s why, I am convinced that it will not take place”, “Armenpress” reports, he said.

He added that on the other hand Azerbaijan will consistently try to make such an impression that it becomes closer to the EAEU accession: it can join the EAEU in case of receiving compromise from Russia, however, it just will be a diplomatic game by official Baku. Safrastyan once again expressed confidence that Azerbaijan will never become an EAEU member.

The Eurasian Economic Union is an international organization for regional economic integration. A treaty aiming for the establishment of the EAEU was signed on 29 May 2014 by the leaders of Belarus, Kazakhstan and Russia, and came into force on 1 January 2015. The member states of the Eurasian Economic Union are the Russian Federation, the Republic of Armenia, the Republic of Belarus, the Republic of Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic.