Russia maintains that every country has the right to participate in the international formats which are in their interests, and which are not directed against any other country and which take into account the existing balance of powers, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said at a press briefing, commenting on Armenian FM Ararat Mirzoyan’s statement that Armenia is interested in developing a trilateral dialogue platform between Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia.
Asked by a reporter whether Moscow supports such a format of cooperation given the fact that Georgia rejected the 3+3 format because of Russia, Zakharova said: “We’ve numerously talked about this, we proceed from the positions that every state has the right to participate in the kind of international formats which correspond to its own interests, which are not directed against third countries and which take into account the existing balance of powers. If the Baku-Yerevan-Tbilisi trilateral platform will contribute to the settlement of disputes in South Caucasus, strengthening of stability and security in the region, then we can only welcome it, we’ve spoken about this numerously, our colleagues know this. But if the contours of Washington and Brussels are seen behind the initiative, who seek to derail the implementation of the trilateral agreements between the leaders of Russia, Armenia and Azerbaijan, then this is an entirely different story.”
Zakharova said that the Russia-Armenia-Azerbaijan agreements reached by the leaders are the basis for the settlement of relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan.
“Since 2020, key processes began in this format in the direction of unblocking of connections, delimitation of the Armenian-Azerbaijani border, developing the peace treaty, as well as establishing contacts between public, expert and parliamentary circles,” Zakharova said.
Speaking about the South Caucasus cooperation format, Zakharova noted that the 3+3 platform already exists. “It already includes the three South Caucasian states, as well as Russia, Iran and Turkey. This mechanism allows combining the broader circle of interests of the regional countries. This, among others, must work to settle existing disputes between them, including in direction of development of trade-economic, transport and cultural and humanitarian ties of common interest, and the fight against common challenges and threats. We note the significant potential of the 3+3 platform for supporting the process of the Armenian-Azerbaijani settlement,” the Russian foreign ministry spokesperson said.
