ArmInfo.The trilateral working group on resuming economic ties, restoring all communications, unblocking all communications is not about punishment. This was stated by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov at the Primakov Readings forum, answering the question of Turkey's coercion into the process of unblocking communications, against the background of the presence of a trilateral working group at the level of deputy prime ministers of the Russian Federation, Armenia and Azerbaijan on this issue.
According to him, this is a group about the restoration of normal economic life, which existed until the 80s, when the war broke out (in the zone of Nagorno-Karabakh - ed. note), and which was stopped after 4 years. "Now, if we talk about who waged the war and fought, this question is closed for all of us as sane people. The bloodshed ended. It ended a little later than we suggested to the parties. And it is not our fault that the truce was reached later than it could have been achieved", said Lavrov.
In this vein, he recalled that Russia was only a mediator and could not force the parties - one or the other - to do some things. According to him, Russia was only trying to convince that further bloodshed is senseless and dangerous, and above all for how people will live on this earth further. Lavrov stated that now the Russian peacekeepers are fulfilling their mandate (in Nagorno-Karabakh - ed. note). "There are no major incidents at all. Both Yerevan and Baku confirm that. Some minor tensions are eliminated quite quickly. Yes, there is a separate tension in certain sections of the Azerbaijani-Armenian border, but this has nothing to do with Nagorno-Karabakh," he said, adding that simultaneously with the suspension of hostilities on November 9, 2020, the presidents agreed to unblock all communications.
The Russian Foreign Minister stressed that this was one of the main principles agreed upon many years ago through the co-chairmanship of the OSCE Minsk Group - Russia, France and the United States. He added that in development of this principled agreement, a meeting of the leaders of Russia, Armenia and Azerbaijan took place in January of this year, at which a trilateral working group was created at the level of deputy prime ministers, which is exclusively engaged in unblocking communications and ties in this region. According to him, this also applies to the railway, and power lines and much more. "All this is on the negotiating table. There are competently selected people who are engaged in prioritizing routes that will have to be priority in terms of unblocking communications. And, of course, the parties take into account the interests of their neighbors," said the chief diplomat of Russia, while calling it unrealistic and it would be wrong not to take into account the opinion of neighboring countries - Turkey and Iran on this issue. Lavrov once again stressed that this is a critical area, where many routes pass: strategic - North-South, East-West. According to him, here, too, you need to think not about who to attract or punish, but about how to build relationships for the long term.
At the same time, he expressed his conviction that the effectiveness of the trilateral group will be determined by how much this unblocking will directly help improve people's lives. "As for Turkey and its role, as I said, in these trilateral discussions the interests of Turkey and Iran are unambiguously taken into account, otherwise all this unblocking will not have the maximum effect," he said. In conclusion, Lavrov also recalled the work of the joint Russian-Turkish center for monitoring compliance with the ceasefire regime, which is located on the territory of Azerbaijan. The diplomat called the center a useful component of the agreements reached. "It provides a sense of involvement of Turkish colleagues in this process. This is a stabilizing factor," Lavrov summed up.