Russia blasts West's 'impudent' approach on Azerbaijan-Armenia dispute

By Elena Teslova

MOSCOW (AA) – Russia has condemned the West’s “brusque and impudent approach” in efforts to resolve issues between Azerbaijan and Armenia, accusing the US and EU of “self-promotion.”

In a statement on Telegram late on Monday, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said the US and EU were seeking publicity by trying to claim credit for the detente achieved through trilateral engagement between Baku, Yerevan, and Moscow.

“The brusque and impudent approach of the West can also be seen in the efforts for normalization of Armenian-Azerbaijani relations. Neither regional specifics nor the sensitivity of the problem are taken into account,” she said.

“The true goals of Washington and Brussels are not to work out a compromise and balanced solutions, but self-promotion and squeezing Russia out of Transcaucasia,” she added, referring to the South Caucasus region.

Zakharova said Western emissaries are visiting Armenia more frequently to present “hastily concocted” initiatives that do not account for regional interests, hiding them behind the banner of the EU or the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE).

These steps by the West threaten “the balance that was achieved in difficult conditions through agreements between the leaders of Russia, Azerbaijan, and Armenia,” she warned.

Moscow brokered the deal that ended the 2020 conflict between the two former Soviet Republics, who have had tense relations since 1991, when Armenia occupied Nagorno-Karabakh, a territory internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan.

Fighting suddenly picked up last month, with nearly 300 lives lost in the worst flare-up since 2020.

Amid heightened tensions, the OSCE sent a “needs assessment team” to Armenia last week, a controversial move strongly condemned by Azerbaijan, Russia, and Türkiye.

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu denounced the “unacceptable” decision, saying it was against the OSCE’s own operating rules.​​​​​​​

He said the OSCE was unable to resolve the longstanding Azerbaijan-Armenia dispute because it “sided with the occupier” for the past three decades.