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Russia is taking note of attempts to promote the interests of NATO countries in the South Caucasus region via Armenia, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told journalists following a session of the CIS Council of Foreign Ministers in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, TASS reported.

"As for escalating anti-Russian attitudes, to a significant degree this is being done artificially. We are aware of the sheer number of NGOs that have been created in Armenia in recent years, and before that there were plenty of them. These organizations are not being created in order to promote friendly relations between Armenia and the Russian Federation. Quite the contrary. Their aim is to lay the groundwork for anti-Russian sentiment and prepare for the promotion, primarily, of US, EU and NATO interests in this region using Armenia as a conduit. We see these attempts, and they are achieving some results," the top Russian diplomat said.

That said, Lavrov emphasized that Russia "has a deep conviction that the overwhelming majority of the Armenian people are interested in fostering [the country’s] traditional, historically fraternal ties with the Russian Federation." "And I wish to highlight that, a few days ago, [Armenian] Prime Minister [Nikol] Pashinyan gave a press conference, and an interview, in which he clearly said that Armenia was not changing its [geopolitical] reference points. Let’s hope that this stance will prevail in spite of all the attempts to pull Yerevan in another direction," he added.