Putin and Pashinyan discuss Armenian NPP operations

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan discussed the operation of the Armenian Nuclear Power Plant, as well as various aspects of bilateral relations, RIA Novosti reports.

“Thank you for accepting our invitation and attending the international event dedicated to the development of the nuclear industry. It is only natural, since Armenia has long operated a nuclear power plant, which, as you mentioned at the forum, supplies 30% of the country’s electricity. That’s a significant figure—30%, a third of all electricity comes from the nuclear plant,” the Russian leader said in his welcome remarks.

Putin noted that Rosatom is currently working on extending the operational life of the plant. “So your presence at the forum is certainly quite logical,” he added.

Overall, Putin assessed Russian-Armenian relations as “steadily and positively developing.”

“Our trade turnover has reached nearly $11 billion, accounting for 34% of Armenia’s foreign trade. According to our statistics, Armenia’s trade with Russia reached $11.7 billion—a record figure for 2024. Relations are progressing in all other areas as well,” Putin added, emphasizing that there is always much to discuss with Armenian partners.

Pashinyan thanked Putin for the invitation to participate in the World Atomic Week forum.

“You rightly pointed out that we closely cooperate with Russia and are working to extend the operational life of the Armenian Nuclear Power Plant until 2036. We are currently exploring small modular nuclear projects that would be suitable for Armenia, and we are actively engaged in dialogue with Russia on this matter,” he said, highlighting ongoing collaboration with Rosatom.

Speaking on the broader bilateral agenda, Pashinyan noted that “relations are developing steadily.”

“True, there has been a slight decline this year, which is linked to certain global processes, but I believe we need to work appropriately on this issue so that our mutual trade continues to grow at the pace we saw in 2023-2024,” he concluded.