Lavrov: 2nd ministerial meeting of 3+3Consultative Regional Platform  to be held in Turkiye

ArmInfo.The Russian side, as the organizer of this meeting, presented its document, in which it  outlined its vision of the prospects for practical cooperation projects in this format. These include the economy, energy, trade, transport, information communication technologies, energy resources and the humanitarian sphere. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told on October 23 following the Ministerial Meeting of the 3+3  Consultative Regional Platform  for the South Caucasus.

It should be noted that today a meeting of the foreign ministers of  Armenia, Iran, Russia, Turkey and Azerbaijan in the "3+2 Format" was  held in Tehran, due to the fact that Georgia refused to take part in  the meeting. The participants of the meeting, which was held under  the motto "Peace, cooperation and progress in the South Caucasus",  discussed the situation in the region and the development of regional  cooperation in the political and economic fields, as well as in the  fields of security, transport, energy, etc. The agenda also includes  the search for ways to resolve Azerbaijani-Armenian conflict.

Lavrov noted that there was agreement on all of the abovementioned  formats; the parties agreed that each of the participating countries  would appoint a representative, who would formulate a national  position on each of the mentioned formats. At the same time, he added  that then all this will be coordinated by the Turkish side, which  will host the second meeting of the platform, approximately in the  first half of 2024.  The head of the Russian Foreign Ministry also  informed that the head of the Iranian Foreign Ministry will give  specific assessments of the meeting. "We also paid a lot of attention  to the geopolitical situation in the region. We expressed  satisfaction with the processes of normalization of relations between  Yerevan and Baku, between Azerbaijan and Iran, between Armenia and  Turkey. By the way, Russia actively supports normalization processes  in all these areas and will continue to do so,"  Lavrov added, noting  that the situation around Palestine was also discussed at the  meeting.

At the same time, the Russian diplomat reiterated that the door for  Georgia still remains open. "We understand the reasons why the  Georgian leadership has so far refrained from joining the six, and we  appreciate that the Georgian leadership is open to doing so in the  future, as far as we understand it. In all circumstances, the current  authorities in Tbilisi., as they have proven more than once, in all  their actions they proceed from fundamental national interests, and  this gives reason to believe that a full-fledged format of the  platform can work in the near future," Lavrov said.

When asked to comment on the position of Yerevan, Baku and Moscow  towards this format, Lavrov stated that Armenia has a positive  attitude, since it participates in it.

"As for the attitude of this format to what is happening between  Yerevan and Baku, the conflict has been largely resolved. Both sides  agreed that Nagorno-Karabakh belongs to Azerbaijan, and this was the  main unresolved problem. Now, of course, there remain practical steps  to complete normalization of relations, primarily on the preparation  of a peace treaty, delimitation of borders, establishment of  transport and economic ties without obstacles, as agreed by the  leaders of Armenia, Azerbaijan and Russia," Lavrov added, while  noting that these aspects were not directly discussed on the  platform.

Regarding the issue of demarcation of the border between Armenia and  Azerbaijan, Lavrov reminded the specially created commission on that  issue and expressed regret that a meeting of it was not organized for  a long time. "Although this has been ongoing over the past year,  there have been attempts to infiltrate this process from the EU and,  to some extent, the United States. We are not against any contacts  that both Armenians and Azerbaijanis find useful. But all experts  know that everything necessary in order to discuss and agree on the  delimitation, including, first of all, the maps remaining from Soviet  times are only in the hands of the Russian Federation," he recalled,  adding that the partners understand this, and the Russian Federation  is not trying to make a big problem out of this.

"Let them try their luck in Brussels, if they so desire. But we are  always ready to really help, to begin practical delimitation," the  Russian minister noted.