Rosselkhoznadzor has imposed temporary restrictions on the import of flowers from Armenia as of May 22.
The decision was made “to protect Russia’s phytosanitary well-being and export potential.” The agency explained that since the beginning of 2026, 135 cases of “Eurasian Union quarantine objects” have been identified – this represents 77% of the total number of such cases for the entire year 2025.
The import of flowers from Armenia will be limited until the inspection of greenhouse farms is completed and its results are analyzed.
The Russian supervisory authorities regularly impose bans on the import of certain products from different countries. This sometimes coincides with a deterioration in Russia’s relations with foreign trading partners – this was the case, in particular, with the bans on Georgian and Moldavian wine and mineral water in 2006, vegetables and fruits from Poland in 2014-2015, and tomatoes from Turkey in 2015.
Relations with Armenia have been strained, where parliamentary elections will be held in three weeks, as Moscow wants Yerevan to abandon its pro-Western course and allow Russian oligarch Samvel Karapetyan, who is now under house arrest, to participate in the elections. Meanwhile, a Russian network of pro-Kremlin bots has begun a campaign against Armenia’s current Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan.