Peskov Questions the Effectiveness of EU Mission at Armenian-Azerbaijani Border

The Kremlin expresses skepticism regarding the effectiveness of the EU observer mission at the Armenian–Azerbaijani border. Dmitry Peskov, the press secretary of the Russian President, responded to the agreement on the status of the EU mission at the border, which was ratified today by the National Assembly of Armenia.

"Here, it is probably worth questioning the potential effectiveness of such a mission," he said. The Kremlin representative also noted that, apart from that, Armenia's actions are not coordinated with the Azerbaijani side.

"The question is what is subject to observation, and whether the Azerbaijani side recognizes this mission. If we understand correctly, the Azerbaijani side has a very negative stance towards the functions of this mission, and I doubt that such a mandate will be accepted with understanding there," Peskov stated. According to him, this is a unilateral decision by Yerevan.

It should be noted that the EU observer mission was officially deployed in Armenia on a permanent basis as of February 20, 2023, following the decision of the European Council. Prior to that, the mission had been temporarily in Armenia since October 2022.

According to the agreement, the status of the observers is close to diplomatic status in the sense that they and their official property (vehicles, equipment, etc.) are exempt from customs inspections and standard registration procedures in Armenia. On December 11, 2023, foreign ministers of EU countries decided to increase the number of the EU civilian mission in Armenia by 50%, raising the total from 138 to 209 staff members.