Deputy Chairman of Russia’s Security Council Dmitry Medvedev has accused Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan of attempting to simultaneously benefit from the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) while pursuing closer ties with the European Union.

Axar.az, citing Russian media, Medvedev stated that Pashinyan wants to continue using the privileges of EAEU membership and “earn money from Russia and other union countries” while waiting for an invitation to join the EU.

Medvedev said that Pashinyan is effectively following the political approach of Leon Trotsky, seeking to move closer to Europe while still benefiting from EAEU membership advantages.

“Comrade Nikol has taken the dangerous path of Comrade [Leon] Trotsky. Responding to the call to hold a referendum on which integration association Armenia should belong to (EAEU or EU), he used Trotsky’s legendary formula: ‘Neither war nor peace, and disband the army.’ Literally like this: we will not decide anything in a referendum until we are invited to the EU. And then, of course, we will rush headlong into Europe. But in the meantime, we will enjoy all the benefits of the EAEU, skillfully earning money from Russia and other Union countries,” Medvedev wrote.

He also recalled that Trotsky’s policies ultimately led to the signing of the Brest-Litovsk Treaty.