Lavrov: Deployment of EU mission without Azerbaijan’s consent would be counterproductive

The CSTO mission is fully prepared, but the Armenian side prefers to negotiate with the EU on the deployment of a mission there on a long-term basis. Deploying this mission without Azerbaijan’s consent would be counterproductive, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said at a press conference on the results of the activities of Russian diplomacy in 2022, the Russian bureau of Report informs.

"We have difficulties related to the current situation in Armenia, when our Armenian friends promoted the need to send a CSTO mission to the border with Azerbaijan in order to ensure some kind of stability there, and we agreed at the summit in Yerevan on such a document on the parameters of this mission, but it was impossible to accept it, because the Armenian colleagues began to insist that this document contain a harsh condemnation of Azerbaijan," the diplomat said.

Moscow still has the desire to send a CSTO mission to Armenia on the Armenia-Azerbaijan border, he added.