Diplomats believe the bloc is attempting a geopolitical project targeting a close “ally"
EU mission to Armenia aims to push Russia out – Moscow
FILE PHOTO: A border check point between Armenia and Azerbaijan near the village of Sotk, Armenia, is seen on June 18, 2021. © AFP / Karen Minasyan
A newly announced EU mission in Armenia supposedly aiming to “contribute to stability in the border areas” is nothing but a geopolitical project serving the West’s interests, the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Monday. The mission will not improve the security situation in the region, it added.
“It is not the first time that we see the desire of the EU and the West... to gain a foothold in Armenia... at all costs,” the ministry said, calling Yerevan Moscow’s “ally.” Russia considers these moves to be geopolitical actions that have nothing to do with the peace process in the region.
The West “does everything to push Russia out of the region and weaken its historical role as a major security guarantor,” the statement added. The ministry also cast doubt on the EU mission’s ability to ensure peace and stability in the South Caucasus, pointing to the fact that a similar EU mission in Serbia’s breakaway region of Kosovo failed to prevent a major flareup of tensions between Belgrade and Pristina last year.
Brussels also ignored Baku’s criticism of the initiative. Last week, the head of the Azerbaijani parliament, Sakhiba Gafarova, warned that the mission could “impede the process of normalization” of relations between Yerevan and Baku.
The EU announced on Sunday that it would send what it calls a “civilian mission” to Armenia’s border with Azerbaijan to “contribute to stability in the border areas of Armenia, build confidence and human security in conflict-affected areas,” and support the process of normalizing relations between the two neighbors.
EU mission a threat to regional peace – Moscow
Read more EU mission a threat to regional peace – Moscow
The mission will involve around 100 civilian staff members, including 50 “unarmed observers,” the EU said. According to Brussels, the mission, which was first announced by the bloc’s top diplomat, Josep Borrell, in January, was established at Yerevan’s request.
Moscow insists that only the trilateral agreements reached by Russia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan can serve as a basis for normalizing the situation in the region. The agreements include the delimitation of the two neighbors’ borders, the opening of transportation routes, and the establishment of contacts between civilian groups, lawmakers, and religious leaders from the two countries. Russia stands ready to contribute to this process, the ministry added.
Armenia and Azerbaijan have a decades-old dispute over the region of Nagorno-Karabakh, a part of Azerbaijan with a predominantly ethnic Armenian population, which declared independence from Baku. In 2020, the two nations fought a 44-day war, which ended in a Russian-brokered truce.
In September 2022, tensions on the border between the two neighbors flared up again, leading to a series of border skirmishes that reportedly claimed the lives of dozens of soldiers on both sides.
https://www.rt.com/russia/571800-eu-mission-armenia-push-russia/
Mohsen Rezaee, a member of the Expediency Discernment Council, has said preconditions include reparations and security guarantees
For the ongoing conflict between Iran and the US to conclude, the latter must withdraw its military forces from the Persian Gulf, according to a member of the advisory board of Iran’s supreme leader.
Mohsen Rezaee, a retired major general and former commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), added that Tehran would also seek full restitution for the damage done and ironclad security guarantees from Washington.
In an interview with Iran’s SNN TV broadcaster published on Saturday, the member of the Expediency Discernment Council said that the “presence of the US in the Persian Gulf has been the main cause of insecurity over the past 50 years.”
“The end of the war is also in our hands,” Rezaee claimed, naming the “US withdrawal from the Persian Gulf” among the key prerequisites. Additionally, Iran expects to receive reparations from the ...
The spokesman for the Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters has accused the United States and Israel of deploying a rebranded copy of Iran’s Shahed-136 drone, designated “Lucas,” to carry out attacks on civilian infrastructure in regional countries as part of a deliberate false-flag operation aimed at framing the Islamic Republic.
In an official statement released today, the spokesman explained that after suffering military setbacks on the battlefield and failing to build political coalitions against Iran, the enemy has resorted to deception.
The statement specifically warned that the objective of these operations is to “create doubt and accuse the Islamic Republic of Iran” while sowing discord between Tehran and its neighbors, thereby undermining the legitimacy of Iran’s defensive actions.
The spokesman pointed to a series of “suspicious attacks” in recent days on facilities in friendly neighboring countries, including Turkey, Kuwait, and Iraq, which Western media outlets and hostile ...
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The IRGC announced the latest wave was carried out using a combination of liquid-fuel and solid-fuel missiles against US terrorist army forces at the Al Kharj Air Base in Saudi Arabia.
According to the IRGC statement, Al Kharj base served as the "origin of aggressions against the Islamic homeland," functioning as the staging ground for US F-35 and F-16 fighter jets involved in attacks on Iran.
The base also houses fuel supply aircraft and serves as the main hub for American AWACS surveillance planes.
Concurrently, the spokesman for the Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters confirmed that the fiftieth wave of the operation struck multiple US terrorist army bases.
They include the Al Dhafra Air Base and Fujairah in the UAE, Jufair in ...
