Zakharova: West starts "play dirty games" in South Caucasus to  destabilize situation

ArmInfo. Russia has demonstrated itself globally as a mediator in resolving regional problems, with a high degree of effectiveness and acting in the interests of peace in the region, and for the benefit of all countries in the region.

This was stated on April 10 during a weekly briefing by official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry  Maria Zakharova in response to clarification whether it could be said that by strengthening interaction with the West, the Armenian Prime Minister is trying to oust the Russian Federation from the negotiation process on the normalization of Armenian-Azerbaijani relations.

"This was not a game of opportunism, nor a game for oneself and only  in one's own interests. It was truly a real contribution to the  future of the region, an attempt to harmonize and find common  approaches, to harmonize contradictions for the sake of establishing  peace between these countries and in the region as a whole. This a  philosophical concept that became a reality and enshrined in  documents. And as soon as it began to be realized, the West appeared,  which, simply out of a feeling of jealousy and its endless  embitterment, as well as out of aspirations to penetrate into a  region where peace could be established in order to disrupt this  tendency, began to declare about itself as a new mediator," said the  Russian diplomat.  According to her, as Moscow has repeatedly said,  the 'function and role' are obvious, and specific actions speak for  themselves. Zakharova is sure that this is not about mediation, but  attempts to destabilize the situation, return the situation to the  worst periods of the region, and collect intelligence information  against the countries of the region.

At the same time, she pointed out the obviousness that every  sovereign state has the right to implement its foreign policy. "The  only question is that, unfortunately, we see that this is not being  done in favor of those stated goals, but simply contradicts them. It  also violates the balance of forces and interests that exist in the  region, and which are important for the region as a whole, and not  one or two specific states," the Russian diplomat emphasized.

When asked to comment on today's statement by the Armenian Prime  Minister from the rostrum of parliament that Yerevan has not made a  single mistake in relations with Moscow, meanwhile, the same cannot  be said about the Russian side, Zakharova clarified whether Pashinyan  gave an example, receiving a negative answer, Zakharova offered to  send a specific request and promised to respond in detail to the  claims against the Russian Federation.

Regarding the aggravation of the situation on the  Armenian-Azerbaijani border due to Azerbaijani shelling, the Russian  diplomat recalled that Moscow had already given its assessments of  this situation, and emphasized that all territorial disputes and  mutual claims between Baku and Yerevan should be resolved exclusively  by political and diplomatic means. "We urge the parties to show  maximum restraint and reduce the intensity of belligerent rhetoric.  There are all the necessary mechanisms to achieve sustainable peace  and prosperity in the South Caucasus," she noted, recalling a set of  trilateral agreements reached at the level of the leaders of Armenia,  Russia and Azerbaijan.

In this vein, the representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry  urged the parties to restore the work of the established format. "For  our part, we are always ready to provide practical assistance to Baku  and Yerevan in finding mutually acceptable solutions, including in  the delimitation of the Armenian-Azerbaijani border.  And at the same  time, we warn about the dangerous role of the West, which is now  starting a dirty game in the region to destabilize the situation," -  she summarized.