Kremlin, on NATO chief's South Caucasus visit, says bloc's expansion will not help stability

MOSCOW (Reuters) - The Kremlin, commenting on a visit by NATO head Jens Stoltenberg to the South Caucasus region, said on Tuesday that the bloc's efforts to expand its presence in the area were unlikely to help bring stability.

Stoltenberg on Tuesday concluded a three-day visit during which he held talks with the leaders of Azerbaijan, Georgia and Armenia, all of which were previously ruled from Moscow as part of the Soviet Union.

In a call with reporters, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said: "NATO’s attempts to expand its influence and presence (in the South Caucasus) are unlikely to add to stability."

Peskov said that the Kremlin was closely monitoring Stoltenberg's visit, but that "such contacts are the sovereign right of the Caucasian states."

Though Russia has traditionally been the dominant power in the South Caucasus, it now competes for influence there with other players, including Turkey, Iran and the West.

Georgia, whose breakaway regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia are garrisoned by Russian troops, has long stated its intention to eventually become a member of NATO, while Azerbaijan has close ties to NATO member Turkey.

Armenia, until recently Russia's closest South Caucasus ally, has seen its ties with Moscow sour in recent years over what Yerevan sees as Russia's failure to defend it from neighbouring Azerbaijan.

Though Armenia remains a treaty ally of Russia, it has said repeatedly that it does not support Moscow's war in Ukraine and has sent humanitarian aid to Kyiv, drawing Russia's ire.

In Yerevan on Tuesday, Stoltenberg praised the country's pro-Western Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan for his "solidarity" with Ukraine.

(Reporting by Reuters in Moscow and Felix Light in Tbilisi; Editing by Andrew Osborn)