Moscow once again emphasizes `complete ineffectiveness of EU  presence` in Armenia in terms of preventing incidents "on ground"

ArmInfo. Moscow once again emphasizes the 'complete ineffectiveness of the EU presence' in  Armenia in terms of preventing incidents 'on the ground'. This was stated on April 18 during a weekly briefing by official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, in response to a request to comment on the start of activities of the representative of Canada in the EU Civilian Mission in Armenia  (EUMA). According to her, Moscow has already commented on this issue.

"Every day we become more and more convinced of the absence of any  positive contribution of the European Union to the normalization of  relations between Baku and Yerevan. On the contrary, EU  representatives are engaged in various kinds of provocations,  intelligence activities, propaganda. It is not surprising that this  causes natural rejection among the countries of the region, whose  approaches coincide with the fact that any problem arising in the  Transcaucasus should be solved within the South Caucasus, based on  the interests of all the countries here, without external destructive  interference," he noted.

At the same time, in Moscow's understanding, the issue of Ottawa  joining the EU mission has already entered the practical plane. "The  other day, a 'so-called' expert from Canada arrived in Armenia. What  the added value of this decision is, how much it is in demand by  Armenians, is unclear. Let them comment on it themselves. Most  likely, in this situation, it means that the 'junior' partner of the  United States, the European Union, is being used Washington to bring  NATO forces into the region. It is obvious that on the other side of  the Atlantic they want not only to expand their capacity to control  the situation on the ground, but also to 'keep an eye' on their  European allies," Zakharova noted, once again emphasizing the  increase in NATO's presence in the region will only lead to a  decrease in trust in the South Caucasus and escalation.

According to her, the goal of the EU and NATO in this region is not  peace between Armenia and Azerbaijan. Zakharova added that the West  continues to militarize the Transcaucasus, turning it into another  arena of geopolitical rivalry, thereby putting an end to the plan for  the peaceful development of this region.

Days earlier, the EU observation mission in Armenia announced the  joining of the first Canadian expert, Alexander Grushevskiy, to the  mission.