Russia is interested in seeing the South Caucasus stable, secure, peaceful, and prosperous, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said during a press briefing.
She noted that Moscow respects the decision of Armenia and Azerbaijan to communicate directly, emphasizing, “It is their choice.”
“At the same time, we have stressed our readiness to provide the necessary support to our partners across the full range of issues, including offering a platform for consultations aimed at signing a peace and interstate relations agreement between Azerbaijan and Armenia. We supported the foreign ministers’ negotiations held in Almaty in May 2024 and welcomed the most recent high-level bilateral contacts in Abu Dhabi on July 10,” Zakharova stated.
As for the messages coming from Western capitals, Zakharova said they should be viewed from a different angle. According to her, the West aims to remove the Armenia-Azerbaijan normalization process from the regional context and shift it to Western-led platforms. She warned that such an approach could disrupt the balance of the regional security architecture.
Commenting on Washington’s proposal concerning the unblocking of regional communications, Zakharova stated that the United States has nothing new to offer beyond what has already been done within the framework of the Russia-Armenia-Azerbaijan trilateral working group.
