ArmInfo. Russia welcomes any initiatives facilitating the efforts to normalize the Baku-Yerevan relations. The most importance thing is to avoid duplication and rivalry between the mediation efforts, Russian Deputy FM Mikhail Galuzin said in an interview with TASS.
"As I have said, the rapprochement between Baku and Yerevan is based on the trilateral agreements between the Russian, Azerbaijani and Armenian leaders. I mean the unblocking transport links and border delimitation. The most importance thing is to avoid duplication and rivalry between the mediation efforts. It is in this context that we perceive the initiative by such an influential nation as Egypt to contribute to the Baku-Yerevan peace process, " he said.
Washington and Brussels, both of which are promising economic "support" and "dividends" to Central Asian nations, are seeking their consent to the deployment of their [western] military infrastructure.
Russia calls on the Central Asian countries of the CIS to exercise maximum caution when building interaction with the West, Mr Galuzin said.
"We and our Central Asian partners have seen how American 'good intentions' work," he said, adding "Washington's democratization experiments, which in the best-case scenario result in color revolutions, have no place in today's increasingly multipolar world."
"In this situation, we urge our Central Asian partners to be as cautious as possible when developing interactions with Western countries," the ambassador said.
"We are convinced that the stability and security of [the countries] of Central Asia and the CIS as a whole are mainly the responsibility of our states, rather than extra-regional players pursuing, as I've previously said, dubious objectives. We have all tools needed for a successful solution, including the CIS, the CSTO, and specialized bilateral agreements," Galuzin said.
"In this context, I cannot help but recall the events in Kazakhstan in January last year, when the quick and professional actions of the CSTO peacekeepers, with Russia's decisive role, allowed Kazakhstan's legitimate government to restore constitutional order as soon as possible, which was the best proof of the Collective Security Treaty Organization's efficiency," the diplomat said.