Moscow: EU eyes to squeeze Russia out of South Caucasus

Russian Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Maria Zakharova has said that the EU considers squeezing Russia out of South Caucasus.

She made the statement at the weekly briefing on December 8 to comment on the issue of extending the EU observation mission in Armenia.

“The EU is guided only by opportunistic interests in its activity in the South Caucasus,” she noted, Caliber.Az reports, citing the Russian media.

“We are aware of Brussel’s desire to infiltrate by any means in the process of normalising the Yerevan-Baku relations just to fix its position and, ultimately, squeeze Russia out of the region. This is its dream. We voiced our attitude to this issue," Zakharova said.

“Nevertheless, until the issue of prolongation is resolved, Russia will not anticipate events, taking into account that the regional countries have different views on the strengthening of the extra-regional factor in the Caucasus,” she added.

In any case, Russia is constantly in contact with Armenia and Azerbaijan on this issue. When a decision is made to extend the EU mandate, Moscow will comment on this issue.

During a meeting in Luxembourg on October 17, the foreign ministers of the EU member states officially approved the process of sending 40 observers to Armenia on the border with Azerbaijan. The observers launched their activity on October 20. The mission covered two months.