Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov will receive his Azerbaijani counterpart Jeyhun Bayramov in Moscow on Monday. One of the main topics of the meeting will be the issue of normalization of Armenian-Azerbaijani relations.
As the Russian foreign ministry pointed out ahead of the talks, promoting normalization of relations between Azerbaijan and Armenia in accordance with trilateral agreements at the highest level is one of Russia's foreign policy priorities. Moscow also welcomes the creation of a bilateral commission on delimitation of the Azerbaijani-Armenian state border and is ready to provide necessary assistance at the request of the parties.
Pressing issues
On the night of September 13, there was an escalation of tensions on the border between Armenia and Azerbaijan in the Lachin direction.
Yerevan then reported intense artillery and small-arms fire from the Azerbaijani side on civilian infrastructure. Baku announced a response to the large-scale sabotage by the Armenian armed forces on the borders of the countries in the Dashkasan, Kalbajar and Lachin directions. In the morning, however, the sides agreed to a cease-fire.
A little later, in October, a trilateral meeting of the foreign ministers of Russia, Armenia and Azerbaijan was held in Astana, during which Lavrov stressed Moscow's readiness to contribute to the normalization of relations between Baku and Yerevan. According to him, good-neighborly relations between the two countries "fully meet Moscow's interests."
At the same meeting, the sides also touched the issue of the peace treaty. Foreign Minister Bayramov reminded his Armenian counterpart Ararat Mirzoyan that Baku was waiting for a response from Yerevan on the main elements of the peace treaty, presented by the Azerbaijani side earlier in their meeting in Geneva. In his turn, the Armenian foreign minister claimed the importance of introducing international mechanisms of monitoring and control of the border situation to prevent new escalations.
Unblocking the communication lines
Another important direction of Russia's efforts is the unblocking of transport communications in the region.
In particular, a working group, co-chaired by the deputy prime ministers of the three countries, has been formed as part of the trilateral agreements. "We are working to agree on a package of specific infrastructure projects that will allow to establish rail and road connections and stimulate the resumption of economic ties," the Russian foreign ministry said.
Other topics of talks
In addition to the Armenian-Azerbaijani settlement, Lavrov and Bayramov plan to discuss a whole range of issues of further development of Russian-Azerbaijani relations in the context of the declaration on cooperative interaction signed by the presidents of the two countries in Moscow on February 22 this year.
The Russian diplomatic mission called this signing a landmark event in the allied cooperation between Russia and Azerbaijan. The document provides for strengthening of foreign policy coordination and military-political cooperation, combining efforts to combat international terrorism, increasing economic cooperation and expanding dialogue in the humanitarian sphere.
GSV "Russia - Islamic World"
Photo: Russian Foreign Ministry
Based on materials from TASS