Lavrov sees no opportunity to develop dialogue with West on South  Caucasus

ArmInfo.The Armenian side confirmed its readiness to take part in the trilateral meeting of the heads of the foreign affairs ministries of Armenia, Azerbaijan and Russia.  Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov announced on March 20 in Moscow at a joint press conference following the results of negotiations with his Armenian counterpart Ararat Mirzoyan.

"I think in the near future we will see what dates will be convenient  for all three ministers," the Russian Foreign Minister said.

Regarding Russia's actions in ensuring the safety of the population  of Nagorno Karabakh, Lavrov noted that Moscow, by and large, supports  the position expressed by RA Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan at the  time, who stressed that the issues of guarantees to the residents of  Nagorno-Karabakh, ensuring their rights should be resolved between  representatives of Karabakh and Baku.

"And we encourage the parties to do this. Armenia is also interested  in this, of course. Of course, it is important for us to understand  how high-quality these agreements will be. If you want to know my  opinion, there are examples. The same was discussed in the Minsk  agreements, about what rights the inhabitants of the eastern part of  Ukraine should have - the right to their native language, the right  to educate children in their native language, to live and work using  this language, to preserve their culture and religion, to have the  opportunity for local self-government and to have special economic,  trade ties with their compatriots. In the case of Donbass, it was  Russia," he said. As another example, Lavrov cited the agreement  between Belgrade and Pristina on the estabishment of a community of  Serbian municipalities in Kosovo.

At the same time, he expressed his conviction that approximately the  same set of rights would be necessary for the Karabakh people. At the  same time, he noted its relevance in the context of the commitment of  the leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan to the provisions of the  Alma-Ata Declaration of 1991. "It's not as difficult to do everything  as it seems. Everything will depend on how dignified those will  behave, on whom the fulfillment of agreements will depend," he said,  adding that in the case of the Minsk agreements and the Serbian  municipalities, there can be no talk of any decency.

At the same time, he added that what he said above became a kind of  prologue to the question of whether Russia considers any interaction  with the West. In this vein, he stressed that the West has completely  discredited itself. "We see very well what goals the West is pursuing  in the South Caucasus. It does not hide them, and in fact declares -  to tear off Russia," the head of the Russian Foreign Ministry said.   He stressed that, for example, Russia, together with Armenia and  other countries of the region, is promoting the 3+3 format - Armenia,  Azerbaijan and Georgia on the one hand, Russia, Turkey and Iran on  the other.  In this regard, he stated that the first meeting of the  platform has already taken place, the Georgian side is considering  about connecting to the platform, and the door for Tbilisi remains  open. "Now we are working on convening a second meeting, and the West  is already actively working to undermine this platform, which is only  being formed. And the West is trying to impose its services- the EU  and the USA on the three South Caucasian republics. Thus, it again  claims to dominate, to assert its hegemony everywhere, far from its  own borders. Directly attacking the legitimate interests of the three  closest neighbors of Russia, Turkey and Iran - Armenia, Azerbaijan  and Georgia," Lavrov said.

According to him, this is what the West is guided by when it starts  some games in the South Caucasus. The minister is convinced that  along with these geopolitical plans, the West is promoting financial  support for various non-governmental organizations, which, like in  other parts of the world, are engaged in activities that can be  called "preparation for the next color revolution." The minister  added that all these NGOs are known for their rhetoric.

"No, I don't see any possibility, and frankly speaking, there is no  need to develop any dialogue with the West on the South Caucasus, as  well as on many issues of the international and regional agenda,"  Lavrov summed up.