Russia does not see any added value "from such a watchful eye of EU experts on the situation in the region of the Armenian-Azerbaijani border." If Brussels were truly and sincerely interested in peace in Transcaucasia, it would have agreed with Azerbaijan on the conditions of its mission, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova stated.

"The appearance of representatives of the EU in the border regions of Armenia, which has turned into an appendage of the US and NATO, and pursues a confrontational policy in the CIS space, can only bring geopolitical confrontation and exacerbate existing contradictions in the region. The declared civilian nature of the mission should not be misleading either; it is shaped by the EU's common security and defense policy, with all the ensuing consequences. In fact, let us call things by their proper names, the name EU remains to cover up the apparent true role of NATO in various world affairs. It seems that by acting through the EU, it removes the issue that the tasks are clearly defined by the military bloc. There is just such a prefix - the European Union... And the fact that treaties, agreements have been signed that completely link EU policy with NATO policy, that the role of the EU itself has been minimized, that people representing the EU are such gardeners, rushing between the garden and the jungle, gardeners who do not understand what they are voicing. All this suggests that the EU has been superseded as a political instrument...There is no place in these Euro-Atlantic structures for politics in the form of diplomacy now, but only for politics in the form of military-political efforts with a minus sign.

The EU's attempts to gain a foothold in Armenia at any cost, to squeeze Russia's mediation efforts, can damage the fundamental interests of Armenians and Azerbaijanis in their aspirations for a return to the peaceful development of the region. We are convinced that the Russian peacekeeping contingent, as well as Russian border guards deployed on the Armenian borders, will remain a key factor of stability and security in the region for the foreseeable future. They will react to the behavior of the EU observers, taking into account the developments on the ground...We note that in Yerevan, without bringing the CSTO work to its logical conclusion, they preferred to choose the EU. If the Armenian allies are still interested in the potential of the CSTO, its mission can be promptly deployed to Armenia. What's the most surprising is that we have heard so many times statements about the need to involve the CSTO, so involve it, so who's stopping it?" she said.