EU initiatives, Zelenskyy’s Armenia visit have political motives – Moscow

Armenia, according to the Russian side, did not respond to strong statements made by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy against Moscow during his visit to the country, Director of the Fourth CIS Department at the Russian Foreign Ministry, Mikhail Kalugin, said in an interview with TASS.

“We, of course, noted in Moscow the clearly Brussels-driven visit of Volodymyr Zelenskyy to Yerevan and his outrageous anti-Russian remarks, which the Armenian side carefully ignored,” the diplomat said.

Kalugin also commented on Armenia hosting summits of the European Political Community (EPC) and Armenia–EU, arguing that these events are aimed at promoting the image of European integration among the Armenian population.

He pointed to what he described as “possible investments” of €2.5 billion mentioned in the Armenia–EU summit statement.

“These are the same funds the EU promised several years ago but has not managed to find so far,” he emphasised. “In other words, Europeans are trying to ‘sell’ something that does not exist, and not for the first time. Behind the blinding ‘gloss,’ it also went unnoticed that the statement highlights the importance of joint work on decommissioning the Metsamor Nuclear Power Plant — one of the key pillars of the country’s energy supply,” the diplomat added.

Kalugin further argued that the EU’s engagement reflects a utilitarian approach rather than consideration of Armenia’s interests.

“In Brussels, no one has even considered Armenia’s interests, which until recently sought to maintain a balanced position on the Ukrainian crisis. Europeans brought their Russophobic agenda to the country and, willingly or not, pulled Yerevan into it,” he said, adding that Armenia is being used as a platform for political projects.

By Jeyhun Aghazada