By Karlen Aslanian
YEREVAN (Azatutyun) — The European Union is not competing with Russia in its efforts to facilitate a “comprehensive settlement” of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, the European Union’s special representative to the South Caucasus, Toivo Klaar, insisted over the weekend.
Klaar’s comments contrasted with what another EU official late last week. The official, who asked not to be identified, said that the EU has replaced Russia as the lead player in international efforts to broker peace between Armenia and Azerbaijan. He claimed that both Yerevan and Baku are now “very scared of Moscow” because of the war in Ukraine.
“The European Union is not engaged in any kind of competition,” Klaar told RFE / RL’s Armenian Service. “We are solely interested in trying to help the process along.”
“If there are other actors, who are able to help things along, then we are very happy,” he said. “We know that the Russian Federation has invested quite a bit in different [Armenian-Azerbaijani] meetings and most recently in the deputy prime ministers’ meeting.
“So from our perspective there is most definitely no competition, there is no interest in any competition. We are simply interested in a peaceful and prosperous South Caucasus.”