The Russian Foreign Ministry issued a statement about the establishment of the EU civilian monitoring mission in the border regions of Armenia, which states:

 "On January 23, the EU Council adopted a decision to establish a new civil mission of the European Union in Armenia for a period of two years.  The exact parameters of the EU presence will be determined in the near future.  But it is already obvious that it will be more large-scale than the EU monitoring mechanism, which operated in Armenia from October to December last year.

 Russia's principled position on fixing the extra-regional factor in Transcaucasia has not changed.  We do not see any "added value" from the observation of EU "experts" on the events taking place near the Armenian-Azerbaijani border.  If they were sincerely interested in the peace of Transcaucasia in Brussels, they would have agreed on the working conditions of their mission with Azerbaijan.

 The appearance of representatives of the European Union in the border regions of Armenia, which has been reborn as an outgrowth of the USA and NATO and pursues a policy aimed at confrontation in the territory of the CIS, can only bring a geopolitical confrontation to the region and intensify the existing contradictions.  The announced civilian nature of the EU mission should not mislead either. It is formed within the framework of the common EU policy in the field of security and defense, with all the consequences arising from it.

 The European Union's attempts to strengthen itself in Armenia at any cost, to suppress Russia's mediation efforts, may harm the fundamental interests of Armenians and Azerbaijanis in their efforts to return to the peaceful development of the region.  We are sure that in the foreseeable future, the key factor of stability and security in the region remains the Russian peacekeeping troops, which were deployed on the basis of the statement of the leaders of Russia, Azerbaijan and Armenia on November 9, 2020, as well as the Russian border guards performing service on the Armenian borders.  They will react to the behavior of the EU observers, taking into account the development of the situation "on the ground.

 We record that in Yerevan, not bringing the work towards the CSTO mission to a logical end, they chose to make a choice in favor of the EU.  If the Armenian allies remain interested in the implementation of CSTO's potential, then this mission can be carried out in Armenia.

 As before, we believe that the most stable and long-term basis for the normalization of Armenian-Azerbaijani relations and the recovery of the situation in the region in general is the meetings of the leaders of Russia, Azerbaijan and Armenia on November 9, 2020, January 11, 2021 and November 26, 2022 and October 2022  It is the steady and consistent implementation of the tripartite agreements of 31, including the unblocking of all transport and economic links, the demarcation and demarcation of the Armenian-Azerbaijani border, the agreement on the parameters of the peace treaty between Azerbaijan and Armenia, the development of tripartite contacts with the public, expert circles and parliamentarians.  The Russian Federation is ready to support it in every possible way," the message states.

It should be noted that the EU Council reached an agreement on creating a civilian mission of the European Union in Armenia.  The EU civil mission will be initially deployed in Armenia for two years, the management headquarters will operate in Armenia.  The Civil Operations Commander will be Stefano Tomat.

It should be reminded that that on October 6, 2022, the four-way meeting of Nikol Pashinyan, Ilham Aliyev, Emmanuel Macron and Charles Michel took place in Prague.  A statement was adopted as a result of the meeting.  According to the statement, Armenia expressed its agreement to encourage the EU civilian mission along the border with Azerbaijan.  The launch of the EU monitoring mission in Armenia started on October 20, 2022 and ended on December 19, 2022, in line with the agreement reached in Prague.