Incident on Armenia-Azerbaijan border speaks to ineffectiveness of EU mission — MFA

 TASS 
Russia – Sept 5 2023
Russia, according to Maria Zakharova, considers "the regular, steady work on the delimitation and demarcation of the Armenian-Azerbaijani border with Russian consultative assistance and simultaneous establishment of a set of confidence-building measures" to be highly necessary

MOSCOW, September 5. /TASS/. The incident related to the death of Armenian servicemen on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border once again proves the ineffectiveness of the EU mission in Armenia, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told a briefing.

"We express our condolences on the death of Armenian servicemen in the village of Sotk and call on the sides to refrain from actions that lead to escalation, tension and even more human casualties. This tragic incident once again confirmed the lack of effectiveness of the European Union mission stationed in Armenia," the diplomat stated.

Russia, according to Zakharova, considers "the regular, steady work on the delimitation and demarcation of the Armenian-Azerbaijani border with Russian consultative assistance and simultaneous establishment of a set of confidence-building measures" to be highly necessary. "We are also in favor of the deployment of a CSTO mission in the border region. Here the ball is in Yerevan’s court. All other member countries of the organization have expressed readiness for this step," the diplomat concluded.

On September 1, the press service of the Armenian Defense Ministry reported that four Armenian soldiers had been killed and one wounded as a result of shelling by Azerbaijani forces on the border.