Russian FM blames Pashinyan for breaking agreements on Zangezur corridor

Armenia doesn't want to see Russian Border Guards stationed at the Zangezur сorridor leading from Azerbaijan to Nakhchivan.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov made the statement during a press conference on the results of Russian diplomacy in 2023, Caliber.Az reports.

"I think we should not shrink from the importance of evaluating the trilateral declarations signed in 2020-2022. It is very sad that such a practical, beneficial thing for Armenia as the opening of the route through the Syunik region (Zangezur - ed.) still remains on paper," Lavrov said.

According to him, the reason lies in Yerevan's position. Someone is advising Yerevan on this issue, the Russian foreign minister said.

"We have seen that as soon as the European Union, France, Germany and the United States realised that the Russian-Armenian-Azerbaijani process was yielding results in terms of unblocking routes, demarcating frontiers and preparing a peace treaty, they immediately started intruding into these processes without invitation and playing the role of a spoiler," Lavrov said.

He compared the situation with Transnistria in 2003, where Moscow also acted as a mediator. A "Kozak memorandum" was agreed, but the Moldovan president called the Russian president. According to Lavrov, he told him that the European Union had forbidden them to sign it. The situation in Ukraine could have been settled "if the Minsk agreements were fulfilled".

"I'm entitled to say that the West also doesn't want to see the agreements brokered by Russia between Yerevan and Baku implemented," Lavrov said.

One of the examples of this is the road through the Zangezur region. According to the minister, it's Armenia that is having difficulties in getting the road opened, as stated in the trilateral declaration. Yerevan has new requirements regarding security along the route.

"They don't want Russian border guards there. Even though this is written down and signed by Prime Minister Pashinyan. He doesn't want neutral customs and border control there. They want to control it themselves, and that contradicts what was agreed," Lavrov said.

The diplomat also noted that Azerbaijan is ready to sign a peace treaty with Armenia on Russian territory, but Yerevan's position remains unclear.

"Our Western colleagues want a peace treaty between Azerbaijan and Armenia to be signed only on their territory, this is a fact. It's also a fact that Azerbaijan is ready to sign on Russian territory, where efforts to end the conflict and build a whole system of interacting to solve all problems began. I do not know to what extent Yerevan is ready for this. However, signals in this direction have been sent to the Armenian capital for a long time," Lavrov said.

The minister also touched upon the issue of the regional consultative platform, which in his view is a promising format for cooperation.

In his words, the Russian side has proposed the more active development of a mechanism of cooperation between the three South Caucasus countries - Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia - and their three big neighbours - Russia, Türkiye and Iran.

"Some meetings were held, and Armenian representatives participated. I think this format will be promising in time because it doesn't depend on any global geopolitical conjuncture and is free from the geopolitical game of maintaining hegemony that Washington is developing with colleagues from Brussels," Lavrov said.