The diplomat commented for the Sputnik news agency on the words of the United States Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs, James O’Brien, who acknowledged last July that Washington seeks, among other objectives, to create the conditions for Armenia to distance itself from Russia.

According to Zakharova, “this spontaneous statement has caught the attention of Moscow, but has not caused surprise, because O’Brien has not said anything new. He only subscribed to something that we regularly warn our “partners” about, particularly Yerevan, that the West is promoting in the South Caucasus a destructive agenda, whose main objective is to fragment the regional space and break Russia’s historical ties with its neighbors,” she declared.

The spokeswoman noted that the United States and its European satellites are not shy about meddling in the internal affairs of sovereign nations, in an attempt to disengage Armenia and other South Caucasus republics from Russia. “They try to take over the government system, raise control over resources, and take advantage of transit capacities under good pretexts,” she said.

The spokeswoman called O’Brien’s statement that Armenia wanted to distance itself from Russia unfounded. “O’Brien and company should assume one simple thing: the ties between our countries have been forged for centuries and will withstand all the tests the West never tires of to subject them.”

“We have stood by the brotherly Armenian people on multiple occasions throughout history and we intend to continue doing so in the future,” Zakharova said.

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