Russian Foreign Ministry: Recommendations from West are preventing Armenia from completing work on unblocking communications in Transcaucasus

ArmInfo. Russia has not used and does not use the term "Zangezur Corridor". Official  representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry Maria Zakharova stated  at a briefing on November 15.

She noted that regarding the region, Moscow is talking about routes  passing from Azerbaijan to Nakhichevan through the Syunik region of  Armenia. "We are not advocating the establishment of one particular  route, but for the complete unblocking of economic and transport  communications in the South Caucasus. We advocate that this happen on  transparent, mutually beneficial terms, which should correspond to  the interests of Armenia, Azerbaijan and their neighbors. Work in  this direction is being carried out within the framework of a  tripartite working group co-chaired by the vice-premiers of the three  states," the official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry  said.

She added that there was a strong understanding within the tripartite  working group that countries should have sovereignty and jurisdiction  over routes passing through their territory. The activities of the  tripartite working group are carried out on the basis of an agreement  between the leaders of Russia, Armenia and Azerbaijan dated November  9, 2020, January 11, 2021, which clearly states the role of the  border service of the Federal Security Service of Russia in  monitoring transport communications between Azerbaijan and  Nakhichevan. "All this is not news for Armenia. All the more  surprising was the violent reaction of the RA Ministry of Foreign  Affairs to our previous comments on this topic," Zakharova said,  adding that Russian border guards have been successfully guarding  Armenia's borders with Iran and Turkey for many years.

The official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry noted  that the process of unblocking transport communications, which the  leaders of Russia, Armenia and Azerbaijan agreed on in January 2021,  has not been completed. "For a number of years, we have come close to  adopting a package of mutually acceptable decisions that would enable  both Armenia and Azerbaijan to use each other's road infrastructure,  which would be a huge step forward towards the overall improvement of  Armenian- Azerbaijani relations and stabilization of the situation in  the South Caucasus as a whole, but this chance was missed," Zakharova  emphasized.

She noted that on June 2, at the 12th meeting of the trilateral  working group, significant progress was recorded in the negotiations,  in particular, a common understanding regarding the restoration and  organization of railway communication between Armenia and Azerbaijan  was reached. "But again, something prevented the Armenian leadership  from finalizing the agreements on paper. We know very well what  prevented it - the "good" advices of Western friends of the current  leadership in Armenia," Zakharova said, adding that Recommendations  from West are preventing Armenia from completing the work of  unblocking communications in Transcaucasus.