The official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry Zakharova commented on the statement of the Armenian leadership that Russian peacekeepers did not protect the Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh and allowed ethnic cleansing.

“Accusations against the Russian Federation only cause problems in bilateral relations. I don't know who benefits. We consider such accusations to be an attempt to falsify the facts in order to exonerate ourselves from responsibility. Put arguments on the table, but there is nothing but hysteria and insults... Is there a document or statement from an authoritative international organization that there was ethnic cleansing in Karabakh?! We have repeatedly stated the importance of returning Armenians to NK and ensuring the local population not only rights, but also security,” Zakharova said.

She also criticized the words of Armenian deputies that only Washington and Brussels have priority as mediation platforms for peace negotiations with Azerbaijan.

“In an effort to please the West, you shouldn’t go to the extreme. The collective West either copied its proposals from the trilateral agreements of Armenia, Russia and Azerbaijan, or altered them to suit its own interests,” Zakharova noted.

Recently, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and members of his government have openly criticized the Kremlin. Thus, there was an accusation of Russian peacekeepers being passive during the last Karabakh war. In addition, Armenia expresses doubts about the advisability of membership in the CSTO, a post-Soviet analogue of NATO led by the Russian Federation.