We have certainly seen and heard material on this matter. On September 9, official announcements were made in Yerevan about the start of the dialogue between the Republic of Armenia and the European Union on the liberalization of the visa regime. Maria Zakharova, the spokesperson of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA), stated this at Wednesday’s press briefing.

According to her, "the targeted work of Armenian partners within the framework of the strategic vector is the sovereign right and decision of Armenia."

"And at least you should have asked: was it discussed with us [i.e. Russia]? No, [it] was not discussed.”

Zakharova further noted that Moscow does not see any negative side or impact of such talks on the launch of the visa-free regime between Russia and Armenia on the basis of the relevant intergovernmental agreement of September 25, 2000.

Also according to her, the aforementioned topic can become one of the topics of the upcoming bilateral contacts at various levels.

“I'll explain why. Simply, first of all, there are relevant problems and nuances of consular services, so to speak, border services, etc.

But there is another point. It seems to me that everyone already perfectly understands that in the current geopolitical realities, Westerners should always perceive such generosity with caution. And there is no doubt that the issue of visa liberalization is purely opportunistic," Zakharova noted.

It is dictated by the European Union's attempts to spread its influence in the South Caucasus along the line of confrontation and incite geopolitical competition in the region. But, in fact, the Westerners themselves word it as the opening of a second front against Russia," said the Russian MFA spox.

According to her, the EU "openly manipulates the situation in the region."

"By the way, they have been openly manipulating visa issues in the same way for many years, making promises, starting from fleeting promises of investment inflows to membership in the European Union, but the goal in fact remains the same: to subjugate regional countries, to force them to serve their interests, to anger the historical peoples here, in particular, the peoples of Russia and Armenia, and to hinder the development of our multilateral allied relations," stated the Russian MFA spokesperson.

As per Zakharova, the visa dialogue scenario between Brussels and Yerevan will not differ in any way from the EU talks with other post-Soviet countries, and no one gives guarantees of a positive result.

“On the contrary, the Europeans will deliberately delay the process, each time presenting more and more new conditions that imply loyalty, assume unilateral concessions by the European Union countries and, in general, a concession of positions," said the official representative of the Russian MFA.

According to her, the ordinary citizens of Armenia are becoming hostages of the Europeans' regular political intrigues, and now Armenia has also suffered a similar fate.

"And before that, they [i.e. the EU] mostly were doing it everywhere, including in the South Caucasus," said Maria Zakharova.