Why Russia quarreled with Armenia

How Russia deprived its citizens of cheese, oranges and mineral water to annoy its neighbors

What's happened

On May 23, Russia banned the sale of cognac from three Armenian producers: Vedi-alko, Abovyan Brandy Factory and Shakhnazaryan Wine and Cognac House. Rospotrebnadzor stated that these “products do not meet mandatory requirements.” Also included in the ban were red semi-sweet wine “Getap Vernashen” bottled on February 3, 2025, dry white wine “Kharji” and “Legends of Arni” dated December 17, 2024, cognac “Armenian 5 Stars” dated January 20, 2025 and “Shahnazaryan XO” dated May 16, 2025.

For Armenia, Russia is the main buyer of alcoholic beverages. For the Armenian economy, such restrictions are “very sensitive”; in addition, the ban could also affect production in Russia, experts say . Domestic grapes are enough to produce only 20% of the cognac bottled in Russia, so about half of the factories use Armenian cognac spirits.

The day before, the Russian supervisory authority banned all supplies of Armenian-made Jermuk mineral water - allegedly the content of ions, chlorides and sulfates in the water was exceeded . The operator of the Honest Sign labeling system stopped sales of 37 million bottles of this water in one day. Restrictions on the import and sale of certain batches of mineral water were introduced on April 28: Rospotrebnadzor explained this by “the need to take urgent measures to prevent possible harm to the life and health of Russian citizens.”

But not Rospotrebnadzor alone. Thus, on May 22, Rosselkhoznadzor introduced restrictions on the import of flowers from Armenia “to protect the phytosanitary well-being and export potential of Russia.” If the Russian market is lost, the country will lose almost 94% of its income from flower exports, the Russian state news agency RIA Novosti calculated . In 2025, the country received $49.1 million from flower exports, of which $46 million came from supplies to Russia. Rosselkhoznadzor does not rest on this and we can expect new bans; the agency has already announced “problems with the supply of vegetables and fruits from Armenia.”

Why did you quarrel with Armenia?

Russia introduced trade restrictions due to a change in Armenia’s foreign policy course in favor of greater cooperation with the European Union. In January, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said that the country would strive to join the European Union. “We must very firmly and clearly follow the path of transforming Armenia into a country that meets EU standards by at least 97-99%. When we meet the standards, we will have two options: either we will be accepted or not,” Pashinyan said.

According to him, Armenia is aware of the impossibility of simultaneous membership in the EU and the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU). In April 2026, at a meeting with Pashinyan, Vladimir Putin confirmed that such a combination is impossible, and this is a question of a “purely economic nature.” A month later, Putin said that Armenia should decide on participation in the EU or EAEU as soon as possible: in this case, a “soft and intelligent divorce” is possible.

Russian sanctions against Armenian products have a political motive, says Grant Mikaelyan, a researcher at the Caucasus Institute. He points out that sanctions were introduced almost immediately after the summit of the European Political Community in Yerevan in early May, where Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky made anti-Russian statements. Tension in relations between Moscow and Yerevan had been building for a long time, but Zelensky was the “last straw,” the expert believes.

State Duma Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin said on May 22 that Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan is pursuing an unfriendly policy towards Russia, “cynically using the opportunities” that Moscow provides to Yerevan - for example, preferential prices for Russian energy resources.

The Armenian side reacted with restraint. Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan admitted that some goods may indeed not meet standards. At the same time, he noted that in this situation “there may also be political layers.”

What other food sanctions were introduced in Russia: chronology

Russia has repeatedly banned the import of products to put pressure on its neighbors. For example, in 2018, a ban was introduced on wheat, sunflower oil, candies and chocolate, vegetables, fruits, beer and wine from Ukraine. In total, the list included more than 50 types of products, including paper and cosmetics. Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev then said that “this is a response to sanctions restrictions from Ukraine.” Indeed, a week earlier, the Ukrainian government extended the previously imposed embargo on the import of food products from Russia until 2020. In total, the list includes more than 30 items, including flour confectionery products, meat, fish, coffee, and baby food products.

In January 2016, Turkey was subject to large-scale economic sanctions from Russia after the Turkish Air Force shot down a Russian Su-24 on November 24, 2015. Since January 1, 2016, Russia has banned the import of Turkish vegetables (tomatoes, cucumbers, onions) and fruits (citrus fruits, grapes, apples, peaches, strawberries), as well as poultry meat and table salt.

Before this, Turkey was the largest supplier of citrus fruits to Russia: in 2015 it accounted for about 35% of imports. Just a few months after the restrictions, a shortage of citrus fruits arose in Russia; prices for oranges increased by 15.7%.

Restrictions were lifted gradually: from August 2016, fruits began to return to the market, and the main restrictions on tomatoes and other vegetables were finally lifted only at the beginning of 2018.

Russia introduced the largest food embargo, which affected dozens of countries, in the summer of 2014. These were retaliatory economic measures against states that applied anti-Russian sanctions after the annexation of Crimea.

The embargo was introduced in three stages: from 2014 - in relation to the countries of the European Union, the USA, Australia, Canada and Norway, from 2015 - Iceland, Liechtenstein, Albania and Montenegro, from 2016 - Ukraine.

Dozens of products were banned : meat and sausages, fish, dairy products, vegetables, fruits and nuts. In 2015, Vladimir Putin signed a law on the mandatory destruction of sanctioned food. Cheeses, meat products and fruits prohibited from import were seized at the border or in stores and crushed with tractors, after which they were buried in landfills. Russians watched as bulldozers rolled sanctioned cheeses and tons of peaches onto the ground. Officials across the country searched for produce that had not yet been destroyed.

In Reutov, near Moscow, assistant head of Rosselkhoznadzor Alexey Alekseenko found meat from Europe and cheerfully reported: “The process has begun. Pork from Poland was found in Reutov.” Polish apples also suffered: in May 2016 alone, Rosselkhoznadzor destroyed 58.5 tons of these fruits in the Moscow region.

According to the department, over the five years the law was in effect in Russia, 36.17 thousand tons of products were disposed of in this way. At the same time, the majority of countries that came under the embargo saw a slight reduction in agri-food exports : they were able to quickly find other markets.

The year 2006 was marked for Russia by several food wars at once - with Georgia and the Baltic countries. The ban on the import of Georgian wines and Borjomi mineral water was explained by the then head of Rospotrebnadzor Gennady Onishchenko by saying that the wines contain pesticides and heavy metals, and the mineral water does not meet Russian quality requirements. The Georgian side called this decision political, although they admitted that some producers sent low-quality wine to Russia. At the same time, the legendary mineral water, according to experts, fully complied with the standards.

Product restrictions were a consequence of the aggravation of Russian-Georgian relations. Georgia accused Russia of supporting separatism in the self-proclaimed Abkhazia and South Ossetia. Russia responded by recalling its ambassador, moving its troops in Georgia to a reinforced position and stopping all types of transport and postal communications with its neighbor. Two years later, a five-day war broke out between the countries, as a result of which Russia officially recognized the independence of South Ossetia and Abkhazia, but actually subjugated these territories to itself. Diplomatic relations between Russia and Georgia were severed. Russia lifted the ban on the import of Georgian products only in 2013. Now the Russian market accounts for over 60% of all Georgian wine exports.

In the fall of 2006, the sale of sprats from Latvia was banned in Russian stores. Rospotrebnadzor for the Kaliningrad region revealed that Latvian sprats exceeded the maximum permissible level of benzopyrene, a carcinogenic substance formed during smoking (1 microgram per kg). Later, dangerous Latvian sprats were discovered in Moscow. The ban affected the seven largest Latvian fish canning factories. The restrictions were lifted in the summer of 2008, after Russia switched to the European standard for the permissible concentration of benzopyrene in canned fish (5 micrograms per kg). It turned out that everything is fine with the Latvian sprats.

Now in Russia, in addition to the Armenian restrictions, there is a food embargo introduced back in 2014. It was extended until the end of 2027.