Russia considers that Brussels is not interested in peace in the Transcaucasus, wants to strengthen its position in Armenia through the observation mission and suppress Russia's mediation efforts, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation said in a statement, noting that the CSTO is ready to promptly deploy a mission in Armenia.
According to the Russian Foreign Ministry, it is obvious that the new civil mission of the European Union in Armenia will be more large-scale than the EU monitoring mechanism, which operated in Armenia from October to December last year.
"Russia's principled position regarding the strengthening of an extra-regional player in Transcaucasia has not changed. We do not see any "added value" from the control of EU "experts" over the events taking place on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border. If Brussels was sincerely interested in peace in the Transcaucasia, they would have agreed on the working conditions of their mission with Azerbaijan," the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
According to the Russian Foreign Ministry, the presence EU representatives on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border may lead to a geopolitical confrontation.
"The appearance of representatives of the European Union, which has turned into an add-on of the USA and NATO and is pursuing a policy of confrontation in the CIS zone, in the border regions of Armenia can only bring geopolitical confrontation to the region and aggravate the existing contradictions. The announced civilian nature of the EU mission should not mislead either. It is formed within the framework of the Common Security and Defense Policy of the EU, with all the consequences arising from it," the Russian Foreign Ministry added.
The Russian Foreign Ministry emphasized that the Russian peacekeepers will respond to the behavior of the European Union observers.
"The European Union's attempts to strengthen its positions in Armenia at any cost, suppress Russia's mediation efforts, may harm the fundamental interests of Armenians and Azerbaijanis in their efforts to return to the peaceful development of the region. We are convinced that in the foreseeable future, the key factor of stability and security in the region remains the Russian peacekeeping troops deployed based on the November 9, 2020 declaration of the leaders of Russia, Azerbaijan and Armenia, as well as the Russian border guards performing service on the Armenian borders. They will respond to the behavior of the EU observers, taking into account the development of the situation "on the ground", the message states.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation also emphasized the possibility of the operative deployment of the CSTO mission in Armenia.
"We record that, not bringing the work towards the CSTO mission to a logical end, they preferred to make a choice in favor of the EU in Yerevan. If the Armenian allies are interested in using the potential of the CSTO, then its mission can be operationally deployed in Armenia," the Russian Foreign Ministry said.
The Russian MFA added that the most stable and lasting basis for the settlement of Armenian-Azerbaijani relations and, in general, the improvement of the situation in the region is the strict and consistent implementation of the trilateral agreements of the leaders of Russia, Armenia and Azerbaijan of November 9, 2020, January 11 and November 26, 2021 and October 31, 2022, including the unblocking of all transport and economic communications, the delimitation and demarcation of the Armenian-Azerbaijani border, the agreement on the parameters of the peace treaty between Azerbaijan and Armenia, the development of trilateral contacts between the publics, expert circles and parliamentarians. The Russian Foreign Ministry stressed that Moscow is ready to support it in every possible way.
