During the weekly briefing, the representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, also referred to the Armenian-Azerbaijani relations and the mediation of the West.
“We saw how the EU amended the statement published by the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy on December 17 about the accession of a number of third countries to the so-called human rights sanctions of the European Union. In its initial version, Azerbaijan and Armenia appeared in the list of third countries, but after some time they miraculously disappeared from there.
In order to make its anti-Russian restrictions look like compliance with international legal norms, Brussels fraudulently involves third countries in its operational means. However, all those attempts are destructive and hopeless. The EU's unilateral restrictive measures, which were taken by bypassing the UN Security Council, are a gross violation of international law,” Zakharova said.
“The goal of the West has nothing to do with the settlement of the relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan or the consequences of the long crisis. This is just another anti-Russian step,” she added.
According to Zakharova, in an attempt to force Russia's neighbors to comply with sanctions, including the anti-Russian course, the EU is simply resorting to all possible means, including outright lies.
