Armenian, Azerbaijani and Russian Deputy PMs meeting on unblocking  communications to be held next week, Lavrov says

ArmInfo.During a trilateral meeting in Moscow, the Ministers of Foreign Affairs of Armenia,  Azerbaijan and Russia, Ararat Mirzoyan, Jeyhun Bayramov and Sergey  Lavrov exchanged views on the situation that is developing in the  context of the work to implement the agreements reached between the  leaders of the Republic of Armenia, the Republic of Azerbaijan and  the Russian Federation since November 9, 2020.

On May 19, following the results of the meeting of the Foreign Ministers of Russia,  Armenia and Azerbaijan in Moscow, Russian Minister Sergei Lavrov  said.

In this vein, he recalled that these agreements relate, first of all,  to ensuring security and stability in Nagorno-Karabakh, including in  the zone of responsibility of the Russian peacekeeping contingent  (RPC).

"They relate to the unblocking of transport and economic  communications. The tripartite working group headed by the Deputy  Prime Ministers of Armenia, Azerbaijan and Russia was engaged in  this.process.  And these agreements also concern the solution of  humanitarian issues, but first of all, we are talking about the  delimitation of the border with its subsequent demarcation. For this  purpose, a commission on delimitation and subsequent demarcation of  the Armenian-Azerbaijani border was established by a separate  statement of the leaders of Armenia, Azerbaijan and the Russian  Federation, with the participation of Russia as a consultant," the  Russian minister said.

At the same time, he stated that the peace agreement is a separate  topic, on which the parties have begun to work, and which is now  being actively discussed, including with the involvement of other  mediators.

"As you know, the Armenian and Azerbaijani ministers traveled to  Washington, the presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan were in Brussels  a week ago. The work on the peace treaty is certainly fundamental.  But, our partners today confirmed that without resolving the issues  of delimitation, unblocking transport and economic communications,  without a general improvement in the security situation both in  Karabakh and on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border, it is difficult to  move forward on specific aspects of the peace treaty," the Russian  Foreign Minister stressed.

Lavrov said that all the above-mentioned issues were discussed in the  complex, the Armenian and Azerbaijani partners thanked the Russian  side for the leading role in the common efforts, which were expressed  first of all in the trilateral statements of the leaders and in those  contacts that continue in each of the above-mentioned directions.

"Next week, another trilateral meeting of deputy premiers on the  issue of unblocking transport communications is to be held. We hope  that its outcome will be positive. The parties are already very close  to a final agreement. And in the near future they agreed to hold a  meeting of the bilateral commission on delimitation and demarcation  of the border with the advisory participation of Russia," Lavrov  said.

At the same time, he stressed that under the peace treaty and on a  number of articles that were discussed today, it was possible to  bring the understanding of both sides closer to a common vision.  And  I hope that a bilateral meeting between the Foreign Ministers of  Armenia and Azerbaijan has now begun, and based on its results, they  will inform us about what they have achieved," the Russian Foreign  Minister said, adding that Moscow's task was to hold this meeting.   He also expressed hope that the talks would lead to practical  results. "We will continue to promote progress in order to fully  implement all the provisions of all tripartite statements that form  the foundation for the normalization of Armenian-Azerbaijani  relations," Lavrov summed up.