Russia Accuses EU Mission in Armenia of Interfering in South Caucasus Affairs

MOSCOW — An aide to Russian President Vladimir Putin claimed on Monday that the European Union is planning to triple the number of monitors deployed along Armenia’s border with Azerbaijan, a mission strongly opposed by both Russia and Azerbaijan.

“The activities of the EU mission in Armenia are not welcomed, and this mission is unfortunately growing,” said Yury Ushakov, according to Russian news agencies. “In June, it consisted of 138 people, and now there are already about 210 working there. It is expected that their number will increase to 600. We can, of course, clearly imagine what they are doing there.”

The EU mission was launched in February 2023 at the request of the Armenian government, with the stated aim of preventing or reducing ceasefire violations along the Armenian-Azerbaijani border. The EU decided late last year to increase its personnel from 138 to 209.

According to Ushakov, the United States and several Western countries are attempting to interfere in South Caucasus affairs under the guise of participating in a settlement process that has already been facilitated with the active involvement of the Russian Federation. “The United States and a number of other Western countries are trying to wedge into the process of working on a peace treaty between Azerbaijan and Armenia,” Ushakov said during a briefing.

“We believe that all the groundwork was done in Moscow, and now Western countries are simply trying to interfere in the negotiation process, thereby meddling in regional affairs,” he continued.

“To put it mildly, not all participants in the bilateral negotiations between Armenia and Azerbaijan welcome such a role for the West and these attempts to wedge into the process,” Ushakov added.