News - Russia MFA on Russian border guards in Nerkin Hand village: Armenia Security Council chief distorts facts

The Secretary of the Security Council of Armenia, Armen Grigoryan, once again distorts the facts. Maria Zakharova, the official representative of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA), stated this at Wednesday’s press briefing—and commenting on Grigoryan’s statement that despite the presence of the Russian military near the Armenian border village of Nerkin Hand, the Russian side could not prevent the latest incident there with Azerbaijan. "We evaluate such statements solely negatively. This is not the first time that the Secretary of the Security Council [of Armenia] has distorted the facts, just, I believe, to please someone in the West. Perhaps we can find some reasons to criticize Russia. There are no Russian military personnel on the territory of Nerkin Hand. According to the agreement with the Armenian side, in 2021, an FSB [(i.e., the Russian  Federal Security Service)] border service position was deployed. But at the same time, now, as we know, an investigation is being conducted in Armenia regarding the implementation of the order to prevent provocations and maintain restraint in the border zone. We consider the attempts to belittle the Russian border guards to be counterproductive, as they have been monitoring the borders of the [Armenian] republic for 30 years and have repeatedly proven that they are in demand. Unlike our border guards, the fake EU monitors [in Armenia] are not doing what they are there for. Their main occupation is intelligence activities against Russia and Iran. And, of course, a little self PR," said the official representative of the Russian MFA.