A rather long and possibly even painful negotiation process awaits Armenia and Russia, during which the priorities of economic cooperation between the two countries will be determined. On September 23, during the conference on Armenian-Russian relations, Russian political scientist Andrey Kortunov announced this. According to him, Armenia is getting closer to the European Union, which means leaving "family" relations with Russia. Kortunov clarified that along the way he ceases to be a member of the family and becomes rather a neighbor, and not the closest, because Russia does not have a common border with Armenia, and this implies that relations should be with Armenia. become more practical. According to the expert's assessment, this does not necessarily mean including Armenia in the list of unfriendly countries, but such relations will imply a fairly balanced combination of benefits and opportunities. "For example, Russia may try to establish stricter requirements for certain categories of Armenian exports," the political scientist added. In his opinion, a lot will depend on whether influential interest groups will be able to lobby for certain formats of cooperation. Andrey Kortunov assumed that players like "Gazprom" and "Rosatom" will play an important role in the relations between the two countries. "Much will also depend on whether Russian Railways will be able to maintain its presence." In other words, a number of "heavy factors" can affect the economic relations of the two countries. In addition, a lot depends on whether Russia and Armenia will be able to cooperate within the framework of certain multilateral structures, for example, the SCO or, say, possible regional multilateral associations," concluded the Russian expert.