Russia sees EU presence in Armenia as attempt to oust it from region

By Elena Teslova

MOSCOW (AA) - Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Wednesday that the European Union’s presence in Armenia was organized with the goal of ousting Russia from the region.

Commenting on plans to open three operational centers of the EU observation mission in Armenia, Zakharova said in a statement that from the very beginning, Brussels’ activities in this regard lacked transparency.

“The deployment of the European Union presence in Armenia was carried out forcefully, under serious pressure from Brussels. The EU members practically imposed their presence,” she said.

She noted that the launch of the mission, which ostensibly aimed to help normalize relations between Azerbaijan and Armenia, took place without the consent of the Azerbaijani side and other regional players and without proper reporting.

"This only confirms the true motive of the EU policy in the region, the main purpose of which is to squeeze Russia out of the Transcaucasus and turn the South Caucasus into an arena of geopolitical confrontation to the detriment of the core interests of the people living there,” she said.

According to Zakharova's assessment, the increase in the number of EU monitoring points "has nothing to do with the task of establishing stability and peace in relations between Baku and Yerevan."

"The non-accountability of the EU mission to the international community and, above all, to Azerbaijan and Armenia, reinforces suspicions of the existence of a hidden agenda in EU activities 'on the ground,' the presence of a 'second bottom' in the mission's mandate under the guise of its 'civilian' nature," she said.

The spokeswoman said that Moscow is not the only one who has "numerous reasonable questions" about the real motives of the EU's activities in the region.

“We continue to believe that the continuing expansion of the EU extra-regional factor in the Transcaucasus, behind which the anti-Russian objectives of the United States and NATO can be seen, can only exacerbate the existing contradictions here,” she said.

"There is no ‘added value’ from the dubious activity of EU 'experts' near the Armenian-Azerbaijani border. Moreover, they are not able to ensure security and compliance with the cease-fire agreements reached with the decisive role of Russian mediation," she said, arguing that the presence of the Russian peacekeeping contingent remains a guarantee of peace in the region.

The development of the situation shows that the trilateral agreement between Armenia, Azerbaijan and Russia is the most sustainable base for the settlement, she said.

Zakharova also promised that Russia will continue to assist the parties in ensuring security and stability in the region.