Moscow cooperating with Baku & Yerevan on unblocking of communication lines
By Vugar Khalilov
Moscow is cooperating with Baku and Yerevan on the unblocking of regional communication lines, Azernews reports, citing Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova.
Moscow, along with Baku and Yerevan, is committed to implementing all provisions of the trilateral agreements achieved following the 44-day war in 2020 at the highest level, Zakharova said at a weekly briefing.
She underlined that Moscow continues meaningful work with Baku and Yerevan to open South Caucasus transport communications via a specialized trilateral working group co-chaired by deputy prime ministers of the countries.
The diplomat emphasized that the group's activities include the coordination of a package solution for specific routes, which would be founded on the principle of respect for sovereignty and would be conducive to regional security and economic well-being.
The expansion of discussion between Azerbaijan and the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) will undoubtedly have a tangible impact on the Eurasian region, Zakharova said.
"Russia positively assesses participation of the Azerbaijani prime minister in the latest meeting of Eurasian Intergovernmental Council. The potential for cooperation between Azerbaijan and EAEU, in the country's opinion, is very high, Russia sees great prospects for such cooperation and believes that this will benefit the process of normalization of relations between Azerbaijan and Armenia," she stressed.
Meanwhile, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that the trilateral working group comprised of Azerbaijani, Armenian, and Russian representatives made substantial progress in obtaining agreements on the problem of restoring transport links in the South Caucasus.
Lavrov made the remarks during a press conference following his meeting with Iranian counterpart Hossein Amir-Abdollahian.
"The trilateral working group with the participation of prime ministers of Russia, Azerbaijan, and Armenia is dealing with issues of restoration of commercial, economic, and trade ties in South Caucasus. The group is working rhythmically, simultaneously; by the way, just the other day, regular contacts have been made with the commissions on the delimitation of the state border between Azerbaijan and Armenia. This trilateral working group, created by the decision of heads of the states on November 9, 2020, has made significant progress in reaching agreements. I hope these agreements will be finalized in the near future," Lavrov said.
He emphasized the need for carrying out this work in conjunction with larger transportation projects, such as the North-South corridor project, in which Iran is also interested.
The discussion, according to Lavrov, was about continuing talks between Azerbaijan, Iran, and Russia for restoring a short railway section on the Rasht-Astara highway.
"Meetings of specialists in this area are already planned in September. So, it seems to me that in practical terms the process is very, very advanced, but in terms of its global and regional significance, it consists of building logistics chains that will be independent of countries that show an inappropriate attitude toward the interests of their partners in this region, whether it is Iran or Russia or any other country," he said.
---
Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz