West is trying to destabilize South Caucasus and drive wedges between region’s states and Russia – Mikhail Kalugin

The West has intensified its destructive efforts in the South Caucasus and is attempting to drive wedges between the region’s states and Russia, Mikhail Kalugin, Director of the Fourth CIS Department of the Russian Foreign Ministry, told RIA Novosti.

“Russia’s interests in the South Caucasus are unwavering. For us, the main thing is to preserve stability and prosperity there, so that together with the countries of the region we can unlock its potential and strengthen good neighborliness. Russia’s fundamental interest is peace and development in the Caucasus, preventing its descent into chaos.

Events in the region have always directly affected Russia, our interests in foreign and domestic security, and the economy. And that is precisely why today Western actors, through their ‘game without rules,’ have intensified their destructive efforts. They are trying to destabilize the South Caucasus, drive wedges between the region’s states and Russia, and sow discord. This is a policy of division, not creation. For many Western countries, the South Caucasus is nothing more than a potential ‘pain point’ for Russia. The main goal is to harm our country, at the expense of others’ interests, and to draw yet another region into anti-Russian schemes.

From recent examples: EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Kaja Kallas called on Armenia—whose prosperity rests on cooperation with Russia and membership in the EAEU—to join the anti-Russian ‘sanctions coalition.’ In other words, the European official literally presented a confession, exposing Brussels’ aggressive divisive agenda,” he said.

Kalugin added that Russia continues to assist in establishing a lasting peace between Yerevan and Baku on the basis of trilateral agreements at the highest level from 2020-2022.

“The leaders of Russia, Azerbaijan, and Armenia agreed on a ‘roadmap’ across all key areas: drafting a peace treaty, unblocking transport and economic links in the region, delimitation and demarcation of the Armenian-Azerbaijani border, and developing dialogue between the publics of the two countries. All these tracks are interconnected, and steady progress on each of them makes it possible to achieve results overall,” he noted.