Russia is concerned about the expansion of the activities of the EU mission in Armenia. At the same time, the participation in this mission of Canada representatives indicates the “creep of NATO penetration” to the South Caucasus. This was stated by RIA Novosti Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation Mikhail Galuzin.
“We negatively evaluate the activities of the EU mission in Armenia, which we have repeatedly talked about,” he said.
Galuzin believes that the task of the European Union is to try to gain a foothold in the South Caucasus to the detriment of the interests of traditional partners and neighbors of the states of the region – Russia, Iran and Turkey.
According to the deputy minister, Moscow is also concerned that “that with the approval of Yerevan, the mission not only expands, but threatens to turn from temporary into constant.”
“In addition, as you know, in April this year, Canadian representatives appeared as part of the mission, which de facto means the creeping penetration of the NATO to the South Caucasus,” he said.
At the same time, Galuzin claims that any tangible results of the work of observers from the EU are not noticeable, and their presence, in particular, did not prevent periodic exacerbations on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border.
“There is every reason to believe that Westerners are collecting intelligence in relation to Russian objects, as well as all countries adjacent to the Armenia,” says the deputy head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
According to him, Moscow constantly raises the topic of the EU mission in contacts with Yerevan and other regional partners.
“It is still convinced that it is possible to achieve a stable world in the South Caucasus only on the basis of a comprehensive implementation of a set of tripartite agreements of the leaders of Russia, Azerbaijan and Armenia 2020-2022,” Galuzin concluded.