Russia sees how the European Union (EU) openly abuses its relations with Armenia and Azerbaijan. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov stated this on Tuesday at his joint news conference with Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov, in Azerbaijani capital Baku.

"Including advancing its so-called mission in the territory of Armenia, which raises serious doubts from the point of view of legitimacy, which raises many questions, including in terms of functions, mandate, duration, and the added value that the mission can have in efforts to normalize relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan. But this is the sovereign choice of the parties with whom to cooperate,” Lavrov added.

“We are guided by the ‘do no harm’ principle in all our actions. We are guided by the principle of contributing to the solution of all emerging problems, which would firstly be based on the principled agreement of the three leaders within the framework of their four statements. Secondly, they would ensure mutually beneficial cooperation based on mutual respect between all the countries of the region. Not all players, first of all, those who are far from the South Caucasus, are guided by such principles and want to work here not for anything, but against someone. We see that, but I am convinced that the parties directly involved in the process see it," said the Russian FM.