In its ongoing criticism of the West, Moscow slammed a top American official for continuing to sow discord and accused the West of advancing a “destructive agenda” in the South Caucasus.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova, who does not mince her words when criticizing the West, turned her sights on Assistant Secretary of State for Eurasian Affairs James O’Brien, who last week told a Senate committee that Washington is actively assisting Armenia’s leadership to “break with Russia.”
O’Brien, has been one of the State Department’s vocal officials to push Armenia and Azerbaijan to finalize a peace treaty, mainly emphasizing the economic benefits it will bring the countries in the region, as well as the United States.
During the July 30 hearing of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, O’Brien also pointedly blamed Russia for failing to guarantee Armenia’s security following the 2020 Artsakh War, saying that Moscow “turned its back as Azerbaijan retook the territory around Nagorno-Karabakh.”
He also claimed that the majority of Armenia’s population wants to “get further away from Russia,” because of that country’s posturing during the war.
Yet, during a visit to Armenia earlier this summer, O’Brien said that the U.S. was still assessing what happened in Nagorno-Karabakh in 2023, adding that the State Department had not reached a conclusion about how to characterize Azerbaijan’s retaking of Artsakh.
Zakharova on Thursday rejected O’Brien’s statements, calling them unfounded. She echoed a long-standing Russian foreign ministry position that “centuries-old ties between Russia and Armenia will withstand all the tests that the West puts them through.”
“The American official only reaffirmed what we regularly tell our partners, including in Yerevan, namely, that the West is promoting a destructive agenda in the South Caucasus, with the main goal of fragmenting the region and destroying Russia’s historical ties with its traditional allies and neighbors,” Zakharova claimed.
“Throughout history, we have repeatedly lent a shoulder to the brotherly Armenian people, and we intend to do so also in the future,” she added.
