Deputy Foreign Minister of Russia Mikhail Galuzin said in an interview with Izvestia newspaper that the future of the South Caucasus should be determined by the countries for which this region is a common home, Azernews reports.

"We consider it counterproductive to drag non-regional forces, "Westerners" into the region, which, unfortunately, official Yerevan has been inclined to do lately. We see that in no country or region where the US and its satellites from the European Union and NATO have interfered, there has been stability and sustainable peace. There were only destructions of statehood, chaos, and destabilisation. There are plenty of examples - the Balkans, Iraq, Libya, Syria, and Palestinian territories occupied by Israel," said the Deputy Foreign Minister.

?. Galuzin stressed that the West's interests in the South Caucasus region are related not to help Armenia normalize relations with Azerbaijan and achieve lasting peace and stability, but to alienate Russia from the process and create another hotbed of tension in close proximity to its borders.

"We still expect that the sooner Yerevan overcomes its doubts about the CSTO and returns to constructive, productive, and meaningful discussions at the political and expert levels on the issues on the agenda of this organisation, the better," the deputy minister added.