Armenia votes as Russia piles pressure on pro-West government

Incumbent Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan is seeking a third term despite falling domestic support.

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The small South Caucausus country of three million people has been under mounting economic pressure from Moscow, as Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan seeks re-election on a promise of European integration.

The election has drawn significant international attention to Armenia, which has steadily grown closer to the West while still intertwined with Russia, its largest trading partner.

The rapprochement with the West is largely Pashinyan's doing.

Since coming to power in 2018, the prime minister has steered his country away from Moscow, passed a law to launch the process of joining the EU, and accelerated the peace process with neighbouring Azerbaijan via a US-brokered agreement. The latter has won him US President Donald Trump's endorsement.