If Armenia Wants Russian Soldiers on Its Land, It Is Its Sovereign Decision, EU Representative Says

Regardless of whether you want to have Russian soldiers, the Russian FSB, or any other Russian law enforcement agency on your land, this is your sovereign decision.

This was stated by EU foreign relations spokesman Peter Stano in response to a question from Radio Liberty in Brussels.

It was announced that Armenia also has homework to do to strengthen relations. Is this also part of the issue of leaving the Russia-led alliances?

The homework set for Armenia was more in the sense of continuing reforms. We are talking about bringing Armenia closer to the EU politically and economically. And this certainly includes working on reforms – strengthening democratic institutions and, of course, necessary economic reforms, ensuring the rule of law, and fighting corruption. In this regard, Armenia has done tremendous work. This was appreciated today and continues to be appreciated.

However, there are, of course, issues that still need to be improved. As for your relations with Russia, the EU is not the actor that says if you want to work with us, you must give up all your other partners. We are in favor of inclusive cooperation. If you believe that it is important or beneficial for your interests to have some cooperation with Russia, you can have that, as long as it does not contradict EU policies, for example, our sanctions policy.

Thus, if you are developing closer ties with the EU, that does not mean you have to reduce your ties with any other partner. Regardless of whether you want to have Russian soldiers, the Russian FSB, or any other Russian law enforcement agency on your land, that is your sovereign decision. We are not saying that if you want to get more from us, you need to get rid of the Russians. The EU does not work that way.