Armenia's upcoming elections will likely provide the incumbent government with a mandate to conclude a peace treaty with Azerbaijan and deepen ties with the West, but Russia's entrenched economic leverage and potential domestic resistance to constitutional revisions could precipitate a political crisis and slow Armenia's efforts to decouple from Russian influence. On June 7, Armenia will hold its first parliamentary election since Azerbaijan seized full control of the Nagorno-Karabakh region in 2023. Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and his Civil Contract party have campaigned on abandoning historical irredentism in favor of securing the country's internationally recognized borders, finalizing a peace accord with Azerbaijan, normalizing ties with Turkey, and deepening economic and security integration with the European Union and the United States. Pashinyan's electoral challenges stem from his own low approval ratings and pressure from pro-Russian, nationalist opposition groups -- most notably the Strong Armenia alliance backed by Russian-Armenian oligarch Samvel...
