POLITICS
Russian Foreign Ministry responds to launching EU monitoring mission in border areas of Armenia
Moscow, January 26, AZERTAC
“The EU Council has decided to establish a new civilian EU mission in Armenia for the two-year term. The concrete scope of the EU presence will be defined shortly. But it is already obvious that it will be more large-scale than the EU monitoring mechanism which operated in Armenian from October to November last year,” Russian Foreign Ministry’s press-service said.
“The Russia’s principled position towards non-regional factor’s taking foothold in the Transcaucasia has not changed. We do not see any “value added” from EU experts’ eye on the developments on the Armenia-Azerbaijan border. If Brussels was sincerely interested in peace in Transcaucasia, it could have agreed mission’s mandate with Azerbaijan,” the statement reads.
“Presence of the representatives of the European Union, which has transformed into an appendage of the United States and NATO, in the Armenia's border regions and is pursuing a confrontational policy in the CIS, will only aggravate the existing contradictions and introduce geopolitical strife into the region. The alleged civilian nature of the EU mission must not mislead as it is formed within the EU common security and defense policy with all that it implies,” the Russian diplomatic agency mentioned.
"We are convinced that the Russian peacekeeping contingent deployed on the basis of the November 9, 2020 statement by the leaders of Russia, Azerbaijan, and Armenia, as well as the Russian border guards serving on Armenia’s periphery, will remain a key factor for regional stability and security in the foreseeable future. They will respond to the behavior of EU observers keeping in mind the ever-changing situation on the ground," the ministry noted.
“We can see that Yerevan, rather than carrying the work of the CSTO mission to a logical end, decided to make a choice in favor of the EU. If our Armenian allies are still interested in utilizing the CSTO potential, its mission can be rapidly deployed in Armenia. As before, we believe that the most stable and long-term basis for the Armenian-Azerbaijani normalization and overall improvement of the situation in the region is the strict and consistent implementation of the trilateral agreements of the leaders of Russia, Azerbaijan and Armenia of November 9, 2020, November 26, 2021 and October 31, 2022 including the unblocking of all transport and economic links, delimitation and demarcation of the Armenian-Azerbaijani border, agreeing the parameters of the peace treaty between Azerbaijan and Armenian, developing trilateral contacts regarding general public, expert community and parliamentarians. Russia is ready to provide its all-round support,” the Ministry reported.