Zakharova on what the EU can offer Armenia, and the monstrous rift in Armenian society

The European Union in its current form has nothing to offer Armenia and is only trying to undermine its historic ties with Russia, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said at a briefing.

“I will simply remind you, in the context of all these statements by [Kaja] Kallas, Ursula von der Leyen, and so on, that Armenia does not even have candidate status for accession, yet Brussels is already trumpeting some kind of ‘European future,’ while keeping quiet about what exactly is hidden or implied by this so-called idiom. After all, the European Union in its current form is incapable of offering its partners anything other than economic stagnation, a completely mindless arms race, extremely dangerous foreign policy adventures, including joining a hostile anti-Russian, Russophobic policy,” the diplomat said.

Zakharova also noted that even before the vote, European institutions had been deliberately imposing a false dilemma on Armenian society, artificially framing the parliamentary elections as a choice between the EU and Russia.

“What does that have to do with anything? It is a cynical manipulation that has nothing to do with the genuine interests of the Armenian people. The goal is obvious — to split Armenia from within, to tear people apart from one another despite their family ties, to literally undermine the historical socioeconomic ties between our countries, to expand their sphere of influence in the region, to turn Yerevan against Russia and those states that are not prepared to dance to the tune of euro-liberal elites,” she said.

Zakharova stressed that the atmosphere in which the entire electoral process in Armenia had taken place, including numerous fact-backed reports of voting rule violations, raised legitimate questions on the Russian side.

“One of them: to what extent is Yerevan actually prepared to follow the principles of democracy and the rule of law proclaimed by the Armenian leadership? I suggest waiting for the final election results. Moscow is watching what is happening with the closest attention,” she said.

The official spokeswoman for the foreign ministry added that the situation is already producing tangible consequences in the form of “the monstrous rift into which Armenian society has been driven.”

“In my view, the task of any political or state figure, already at the helm of power, is precisely to promote national unity. Especially when it comes to such a mono-ethnic state, of course with representatives of different cultural currents and so on, but one that is nonetheless developing along a single, unified course and trajectory. That unity must be preserved and strengthened. It is a source of pride, it is an asset that a statesman above all else should be able to count to his credit,” Zakharova said.