Russian envoy accuses EU’s Armenia mission of intelligence gathering

Russian Ambassador to Yerevan Sergey Kopyrkin has accused the European Union’s mission in Armenia of gathering intelligence data aimed at countering Moscow, Baku, and Tehran, rather than effectively monitoring the situation.

In an interview with the “Allies. CSTO” social and political outlet , Kopyrkin stated that many of the risks Armenia faces could have been mitigated if Yerevan had accepted CSTO’s proposal from September 2022, News.Az reports.

“Unfortunately, the Armenian leadership preferred to invite a European Union mission, which is in no way protecting the country’s borders. All it is doing is collecting intelligence data against Azerbaijan, Iran and Russia under the guise of monitoring activities,” he said.

According to the envoy, the future of the South Caucasus should be determined by the regional countries and their neighboring partners.

“No external force will bring peace and prosperity to our shared region. The collective West's efforts to militarize the area and expand the military and political influence of the EU and NATO contradict the goals of long-term regional security, stability, and social and economic development,” Kopyrkin added.

News.Az