BAKU, Azerbaijan, January 18. The EU mission on the Azerbaijan-Armenia border will be counterproductive without Baku's consent, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said at a briefing, Trend reports.
Lavrov confirmed Russia's readiness to send a mission of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) to the border of Azerbaijan and Armenia but noted that the Armenian side prefers to negotiate with the EU.
"Instead of making the situation on the border more secure, such a mission can be counterproductive if it takes place without the consent of Baku," the Russian FM said
"Despite the fact that we are allies and that the mission [of the Collective Security Treaty Organization] is fully ready, the Armenian side prefers to negotiate with the EU so that a civilian observer mission can be stationed there on a long-term basis," he said, adding that "this is the border with Azerbaijan, and, probably, if this mission takes place without the consent of Azerbaijan, it may simply be counterproductive. Instead of building trust at the border, it can create additional irritants".
Meanwhile, the EU Council has decided to deploy up to 40 EU monitoring experts along the Armenian side of the international border with Azerbaijan with the objective of monitoring, analyzing and reporting on the situation in the South Caucasus on October 17.
The mission deployment issue was reflected in the statement adopted on October 7 following the quadrilateral meeting of President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev with French President Emmanuel Macron, President of the European Council Charles Michel and Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan.
The EU and France wanted to create a border monitoring mission which would also operate on the territory of Azerbaijan and use it to enter the region. Azerbaijan objected to this, and after a firm position, it was decided that the mission will operate only on the territory of Armenia.
The EU Monitoring Capacity in Armenia (EUMCAP), launched in October, completed its mandate on December 19, 2022.