Armenians voted in a parliamentary election that will determine whether Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan can secure a mandate to reorient the country toward Europe even as tensions with Russia are on the rise.

Turnout reached almost 59%, the Central Election Commission announced after polls closed Sunday. Preliminary results expected later Sunday.

Pashinyan downplayed frictions with Moscow in comments to reporters after casting his vote. He described Russia’s temporary import restrictions on Armenian agricultural goods including fruits and vegetables as a “working issue” and an “artificial tension,” saying such disputes are routine within the Eurasian Economic Union.

Pashinyan also stressed that Armenia isn’t in a position to launch an European Union accession process because it is “not ready.” He said he wouldn’t determine the timing of any such process, saying the decision would ultimately be put to a referendum.

“My task is for the people of Armenia to have alternatives; the people will decide which path they want to take,” he said, while also characterizing pressure from Eurasian Economic Union partners over Armenia’s choices as a “tactical mistake,” referring to calls for Yerevan to make an immediate geopolitical choice.

Among the main challengers to Pashinyan’s Civil Contract party are the Strong Armenia bloc, led by Russian-Armenian billionaire Samvel Karapetyan, and the Armenia Alliance, headed by former President Robert Kocharyan. Karapetyan, who’s under house arrest, was allowed to come to vote to the polling station and talk to members of the press, complaining that more than 100 of his supporters had been detained.

Karapetyan positions himself as a proponent of strategic balance. “We must have good relations with everyone — with the U.S., the EU, and Russia,” he said, arguing that Armenia cannot afford alignment with any single external partner and must instead maintain simultaneous ties with all major power centers to support national development.

There are 18 parties competing for at least 101 seats in Armenia’s National Assembly. Single parties need to garner 4% of the vote to enter parliament, while alliances need between 8% and 10% to qualify, depending on their size.

Nearly 2.5 million people are eligible to vote in the election that opposition parties have cast as a referendum on Pashinyan’s efforts to reduce Armenia’s dependence on Moscow and deepen ties with the European Union and the US. Some have accused the incumbent of making excessive concessions in pursuit of a peace agreement following Azerbaijan’s 2023 capture of Nagorno-Karabakh that prompted an exodus of its ethnic Armenian residents.

President Donald Trump has endorsed Pashinyan, who first came to power following Armenia’s 2018 “Velvet Revolution.” After Russia in May began imposing restrictions on imports from Armenia as apparent retaliation for its desire to seek EU membership, the bloc stepped up financial assistance to the government in Yerevan and eased trade measures for some Armenian products.

A transport corridor, the Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity, is planned to run through Armenia linking Azerbaijan to its exclave of Nakhchivan. A partnership with Armenia to manage the route will give the U.S. a deep economic stake in the strategically important region for as long as 99 years.

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—With assistance from Ilya Arkhipov.

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