MOSCOW, January 20. /TASS/. The European Union is unwilling to cooperate with the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) and is instead trying to undermine its work in every possible way, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said at a news conference reviewing the results of Russian diplomacy in 2025.
"The EU does not interact with the EAEU but tries to undermine it in every way possible, including by declaring that participation in the EU should be a priority for anyone who is growth-minded and cares about their people. As you know, Armenia is being subjected to this very approach, and they're not the only one," Lavrov said.
According to the foreign minister, EU countries avoid commenting on Eurasian economic integration while at the same time attempting to weaken existing efforts in this area "under the pretext of their right to develop relations with any partners."
"They started doing this long ago, even before the Eurasian Economic Union was created, when they largely ignored the existence of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation organization and adopted their own strategy for engagement in the Black Sea region. They advanced their framework for the Arctic in exactly the same manner. In other words, they assume they have the right to interfere in any part of the world where they want to gain something or harm someone, primarily Russia," Lavrov said.
He added that EU countries are now trying to build relations with Central Asia with these same things in mind.