Shoigu: The situation in the South Caucasus is showing a tendency to improve

ArmInfo. The situation in the South Caucasus is improving. This was stated by Russian Security Council Secretary Sergei Shoigu at the 14th meeting of CIS Security Council Secretaries.

According to him, the Armenian-Azerbaijani normalization is yielding results, effectively establishing peace in the region. He expressed confidence in the importance of unblocking transport communications, an agreement reached within the trilateral working group of Russia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan.

"At the same time, all logistics projects must be economically justified and cost-effective," Shoigu said.

He then touched on relations with Georgia and welcomed the active development of Georgian-Russian trade and economic ties. He also emphasized that regional issues should be resolved through political and diplomatic means, without foreign interference.

"In this context, it is important to resume the work of the 3+3 regional consultative platform," Shoigu noted.

Secretary of the Security Council Alen Simonyan is participating in the event on the Armenian side.

The first meeting of the 3+3 regional platform was held on December 10, 2021, in Moscow, co-chaired by the deputy foreign ministers of Russia, Azerbaijan, Armenia, and Turkey, as well as the Director General of the Iranian Foreign Ministry. The Russian Foreign Ministry noted that Georgian representatives, who were also invited, abstained from participating in the meeting, but the door is always open to them.

Following this, in 2023 in Iran, and in 2024 in Turkey, meetings of representatives of this platform at the level of the foreign ministers of five countries – Armenia, Azerbaijan, Russia, Iran, and Turkey – were held. Georgia again did not participate in the platform's work. The parties agreed to hold the next meeting in either Baku or Yerevan. However, a final agreement on the location has not yet been reached.