News - Russia welcomes Armenia, Azerbaijan FMs' talks in Kazakhstan

Russia welcomes the negotiations between the foreign ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan, which took place in Almaty, Kazakhstan. This was stated by Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Galuzin in an interview with News.ru. "We [i.e. Russia] welcome the negotiations of the foreign ministers of Azerbaijan and Armenia on the peace treaty on May 10-11 in Almaty. Another step has been taken to achieve reliable and long-term peace and stability in the South Caucasus. We fully support Astana's efforts in this direction. If we look at history, Kazakhstan has made a significant contribution to the development and adoption of the Zheleznovodsk Declaration in September 1991. It was one of the first serious attempts to stop the military confrontation in the Karabakh conflict zone. It is important that the contacts in Almaty proceed in line with the 2020-2022 high-level tripartite agreements, which defined the ‘roadmap’ for the normalization of relations between Baku and Yerevan,” said Galuzin. Speaking about the unblocking of transportation communications in the South Caucasus, the Russian deputy FM drew attention to the fact that his country does not use the term "Zangezur corridor" introduced by the president of Azerbaijan. "Russia is not in favor of the creation of a specific route, but in favor of the complete unblocking of economic and transport communications in the South Caucasus. This is what the tripartite working group created by the decision of the leaders of Russia, Azerbaijan and Armenia in 2021, under the joint co-chairmanship of the deputy prime ministers of the three countries, is engaged in," said Galuzin; According to him, this tripartite working group performed rhythmic work and was able to achieve considerable results. As per the Russian deputy FM, in June 2023, a general understanding was reached regarding the restoration of the railway connection between Armenia and Azerbaijan. He added that the parties have practically reached a systematic and balanced agreement. Mikhail Galuzin said that the process has stopped, but not through Russia's fault. According to him, Armenia has decided to freeze the cooperation at the level of the tripartite working group.