EUMA does not protect country but collects intelligence, says Russian envoy to Armenia

Russian Ambassador to Armenia Sergey Kopyrkin in an interview with “Allies. The CSTO” touched upon the work of the CSTO aimed at regional peace.

“Many of the risks that Armenia is facing today could have been stopped if, in September 2022, Yerevan had agreed to a proposal to take a set of measures to stabilize the situation on the border with Azerbaijan through the CSTO. The measures involved serious initiatives, including military and technical assistance, sending a monitoring mission, and assistance in training border troops. Unfortunately, the Armenian leadership chose to invite the EU mission, which does not protect the borders of the state at all, but under the guise of ‘monitoring’ is collecting intelligence against Azerbaijan, Iran and Russia,” he said.

According to the ambassador, Armenia’s full participation in the work of the CSTO meets, first of all, the interests of the Armenian people, serves to maintain peace and stability in the South Caucasus region. He also added that “Russia has never abandoned its role as an honest broker in the talks between Armenia and Azerbaijan.”

“The fate and future of the South Caucasus should be determined only by the countries of the region and neighboring partner states. No one from the outside will bring peace and prosperity to our common home. If we talk about the tasks of ensuring long-term regional security, stability, and socio-economic development, then the plans of the ‘collective West’ to militarize the region and expand the military and political influence of the EU and NATO do not correspond at all. The key to the prosperity of the South Caucasus is an inclusive dialogue, in particular within the framework of the 3+3 consultative regional platform, the search for mutually acceptable answers to issues and countering the geopolitical dictates of non-regional forces,” he said.

Kopyrkin also touched upon the unblocking of communications in the region.

“We consider it important to resume the full-fledged work of the tripartite working group as soon as possible, not only to unblock the transport and communication system of the South Caucasus but also to establish durable peace and prosperity of the entire region as a whole,” the ambassador said.