The head of Russian Foreign Ministry's Information and Press Department Ivan Nechayev told a press briefing today that Russia stands for turning the South Caucasus into a zone of peace and prosperity.
He said Russia supports exclusively a constructive agenda and is not going to compete with anyone. His comment came in response to a question by a journalists, who cited EU's and United States' increased activity in the region that the West is trying to oust Russia from the South Caucasus and take control of efforts seeking to help Armenia and Azerbaijan normalize their relations.
"How is Moscow going to counter Western influence in the South Caucasus?" the journalist asked.
Nechayev said that normalization of relations between Baku and Yerevan and all the efforts to that end should be based on trilateral statements made by the leaders of Russia, Azerbaijan and Armenia after the end of hostilities in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict zone on November 9, 2020, and January 11 and November 26, 2021.
"We have no objection to the involvement of extra-regional players, if they act in line with the above-mentioned statements and contribute to their implementation. The main thing is to avoid duplication and backstabbing to weaken someone or put a stick in the wheel. Unfortunately, we have come across such practices from the actors mentioned above more than once," Nechayev said.
