Armenia has no interest in joining NATO: PM

Acting Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said Monday his country had no plans to join NATO.

"We have no plans to be a member of NATO," Pashinyan told reporters.

Pashinyan’s announcement comes after the prime minister's My Step alliance won the country's snap parliamentary election on Sunday with over 70 percent of the vote.

Armenia has been at odds for decades with Azerbaijan over control of Nagorno-Karabakh after the Armenian-populated region split from Azerbaijan in 1988 and announced independence three years later, triggering a war.

The European Union sided with Azerbaijan in not recognizing the region's independence. However, the EU has supported Pashinyan's rise to power and promised the nation "concrete support" to reforms, including through technical and financial assistance.