Peskov: Russia is interested in peaceful South Caucasus

Russia is interested in peace, stability, predictability, and an atmosphere of trust in the South Caucasus, Spokesperson for the Russian President Dmitry Peskov said.

“This is not a distant region for us. Russia is, in fact, a country of this region—the South Caucasus. We want the Caucasus to have peace, stability, predictability, and an atmosphere of mutual trust and security,” Peskov told reporters.

He noted that the European Union is independently initiating processes for membership, so one should wait for the response of Brussels to Armenia’s initiative to join the EU. Peskov added that Armenia can hardly be a member of both the European Union (EU) and the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) simultaneously.

“Being a member of two different organizations is, hypothetically speaking, simply impossible. There is one customs area here, and there is one zone here for the free movement of goods and services, people, and capital; there are different norms,” the Kremlin spokesperson noted.

He added that it is still difficult to assess the significance of Armenia’s potential membership in the EU.

“It depends on what the Armenian side will emphasize,” Peskov evaluated the prospects for future relations between the members of the Eurasian Economic Union and Armenia.