RF MFA: EU is making efforts to divide EAEU countries

ArmInfo.  Armenia continues its course toward rapprochement with Brussels after the adoption of  the law on the republic's accession process to the EU in 2025.  Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Pankin stated this in an  interview with Izvestia.

"The European Union itself is indeed making efforts, in various  forums, to divide us, to distance us from each other-that's a fact.  European emissaries visit individual countries, attend group  gatherings, to advertise and promise things that are unlikely to ever  be fulfilled. And perhaps these very promises are aimed at disrupting  our cooperation," Alexander Pankin stated.

According to him, Russia allows for the rapid expansion of the EAEU  at the observer level, but the main priority now is to avoid  disintegration, especially given the position of the leadership of  one of the union's member states (Armenia).

"Several more observer countries may be added now. Observation does  not obligate either side to do anything. It is more a step toward  deepening cooperation, but not toward joining the union and complying  with all supranational rules," said Alexander Pankin. However, the  diplomat clarified that there are no prospects for expansion to full  membership. Currently, Uzbekistan, Cuba, and Iran hold observer  status, covering Central Asia, Latin America, and the Middle East.