Russia has confirmed its readiness to provide an opportunity for the continuation of trilateral negotiations between Russia, Azerbaijan and Armenia at the level of the Foreign Ministers, TASS reports.
“We have confirmed our readiness to provide an opportunity to continue such meetings,” Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said following a meeting with his Azerbaijani counterpart Jeyhun Bayramov.
The Russian Foreign Minister specified that the Azerbaijani side has expressed readiness to hold a new meeting in this format. “The Armenian side said that it does not object, but is yet to give a final consent,” Lavrov added.
The Minister noted that Russia expects that the trilateral working group of the Russian Federation, Armenia and Azerbaijan will soon be able to agree on the establishment of transport links between the western part of Azerbaijan and Nakhichevan.
“We have talked about the progress of the negotiation process on the unblocking of transport and economic ties in the South Caucasus. We expect that soon the Deputy Prime Ministers of Russia, Azerbaijan and Armenia, as co-chairmen of the respective tripartite working group, will be able to reach concrete agreements on the resumption of the use of the railway route between the main territory of Azerbaijan and Nakhijevan,” the Minister said.
Lavrov also noted that the mode of operation of the Lachin corridor should correspond to the tripartite statement of the leaders of the Russian Federation, Armenia and Azerbaijan dated November 9, 2020, there is no provision for the creation of any checkpoints.
“The regime of functioning of the Lachin Corridor must fully comply with the very first tripartite statement of November 9-10, 2020, which means ensuring the freedom of movement for exclusively civilian and humanitarian cargo and civilians,” he said.
“This is what we are striving for, primarily through the Russian peacekeeping contingent. Creation of any checkpoints there is not envisaged,” Lavrov said.
