News - Zakharova: EU monitoring mission in Armenia is spying on Russia, Iran, Azerbaijan

The positive dynamics of the negotiation process between Armenia and Azerbaijan was observed when high-level tripartite agreements were actively implemented, and when regular contacts were carried out in the Russia-Azerbaijan-Armenia format. Maria Zakharova, the official representative of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs(MFA), stated this in a press briefing Wednesday. According to her, this does not mean that there are no other theoretical possibilities. However, it was at that time that there was dynamics related to the implementation of tripartite agreements and the formats that were dictated by them. Zakharova noted that later, however, the West began to interfere in the affairs of the region, and it simply wanted to appropriate the agenda. "The fact that the situation is entering a peaceful path, that there is an international-legal dimension, that the [two] countries are reaching agreements without any aggression, malice, despite a very difficult past, but with a clear plan for a peaceful future, did not give them [i.e. the West] peace," said the official representative of the Russian MFA. “It meant seizing the agenda. It was the West that imposed its Karabakh form on Armenia, forgetting the need to preserve the rights and security of the local Armenian population. This led to the creation of an additional problem in the region." She noted that the Western regimes are forcing Armenia to make unilateral decisions on disputed territorial issues on the border of the two countries, as well as pushing Armenia to destroy the positive trends in its contacts with Azerbaijan and relations with Russia. "We [i.e. Moscow] had relations with Yerevan, we have those relations, and I am sincerely convinced that they will develop along the path of alliance from now on as well," said the official representative of the Russian MFA. Also, Zakharova said that the European Union (EU) monitoring mission in Armenia is spying on Russia, Iran, and Azerbaijan, and this has a documentary basis. She did not rule out that this could lead to irreversible consequences in the region.