French President Emmanuel Macron on Wednesday accused Russia of “playing” Azerbaijan for “Turkey’s complicity” against Armenia and conducting a “destabilizing maneuver” in the region, AFP reported.

“Russia intervened in this conflict, cleared Azerbaijan’s game with the help of Turkey and returned there to weaken Armenia,” he said in an interview with France 2.

“This is a destabilizing maneuver by Russia, which is trying to create chaos in the Caucasus in order to weaken and divide us all,” he added.

Russia’s ally Armenia and Turkey-backed Azerbaijan have fought two wars over the past three decades over control of Nagorno-Karabakh.

The 2020 war claimed the lives of more than 6,500 soldiers and ended after a Russian-brokered ceasefire.

Armenia ceded territory it had controlled for decades, and Moscow deployed about 2,000 Russian troops to protect the fragile truce.

“These soldiers should be border guards,” said Emmanuel Macron. “Russia has taken advantage of this conflict for decades,” he insisted.

The European Union will send a civilian mission to Armenia along the border with Azerbaijan “in the coming days” to try to restore trust between the two countries and help demarcate disputed borders, he said.

The principle of this mission was adopted on Friday in Prague after several hours of negotiations between the Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan, the President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev, the President of the European Council Charles Michel and Emmanuel Macron.

In September, at least 286 people were killed in clashes between Armenia and Azerbaijan, the worst clashes between the two Caucasian neighbors since the 2020 war.

“Azerbaijan has launched several offensives along the border,” the French president insisted, as both sides accuse each other of starting hostilities.