Context: In early May, Yerevan hosted two European events: the EU-Armenia Bilateral Summit and the European Political Community Summit. The events were attended by EU leaders, heads of state from European countries, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, a guest representing Belarus, was also present. Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said that he would like his country to join the European Union. Moscow viewed this as an anti-Russian policy by Yerevan, prompting the media to intensify their coverage of Armenia.
On May 5, 2026, Latvian blogger Solomon Bernstein (whose real name is Konstantins Rudakovs) appeared on the First National Channel of Belarusian Radio to argue that Armenia would be better off as a friend of Russia than Europe. He used Georgia as an example.
“Take Georgia, for instance. They are still formally in confrontation with the Russian Federation, but they are slowly restoring their trade turnover. Last year, their economy grew by 6.5%. Previously, when they were flirting with Europe, their economy grew by only 1.5-1.8%. As soon as they abandoned their political ambitions to join the European Union and NATO and turned toward the Russian Federation again, the economy began to improve. Life is getting better,” Bernstein said.
This thesis is based on several concept manipulations. The primary assertion is that the relationship between Georgia and Russia improved after Tbilisi abandoned the ambition to join the European Union. This is far from reality.
Indeed, the ruling Georgian Dream party is considered to be pro-Russian. However, throughout its years in power, it has promised to secure Georgia’s accession to the European Union by 2030. The party described its policy regarding Russia as pragmatic and favored a peaceful resolution to the conflict. This can be described as an attempt at conflict-free coexistence rather than a rejection of the European path. Furthermore, it was during Georgian Dream’s tenure that an article on Georgia’s integration into the European Union and NATO was added to the country’s constitution. This happened in 2017-2018.
Following the 2024 parliamentary election, the Georgian government suspended the country’s EU accession process until 2028 after the European Parliament refused to recognize the election as free and fair. Nevertheless, this has not resulted in a significant increase in Georgia’s reliance on trade with Russia. 10 years ago, Georgia exported 7% of its goods to Russia. By 2025, that figure had increased to 10%. After relations with the EU cooled, this percentage did not increase.
Georgia does not depend on one trading partner for exports. In terms of exports, Georgia sells more to Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan than to Russia, while Azerbaijan lags only slightly behind Russia. Therefore, increased trade with Russia cannot be regarded as the primary factor behind Georgia’s economic growth. The World Bank attributed this growth to the development of tourism, information technology, transportation, and education.