Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s opening remarks at talks with Foreign Minister of Azerbaijan Jeyhun Bayramov, Moscow, July 25, 2023

Esteemed Mr Bayramov, my friends.

I am delighted to see you in Moscow again. We often talk in our capitals and other places when attending multilateral events.

We would like to use this meeting to resolve one of the most important problems in our region – achieving long-term stabilisation in the South Caucasus. We are convinced that the shortest road to this is the implementation of the provisions of the trilateral statements by the leaders of Russia, Azerbaijan and Armenia. A number of additional documents are being prepared for consideration by our leaders.

We would like to focus on the implementation of the top-level agreements on signing a peace treaty between Baku and Yerevan. We are ready to facilitate this as much as we can, in part by providing a platform for signing this treaty.

However, other issues concerning Nagorno-Karabakh and everything related to it deserve regular attention. I am referring to the humanitarian situation that is now receiving much attention and many comments from the international community. We appreciate that our Azerbaijani friends understand the need to ensure the rights and security of the Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh. This is one of the central issues.

We would like to use this opportunity to discuss bilateral relations and the implementation of top-level decisions made during the regular meetings between our presidents. Russian-Azerbaijani ties are making steady headway. On July 7 of this year, Moscow hosted yet another meeting of the Intergovernmental Commission on Economic Cooperation. We are expanding our trade and have launched joint projects with regional or even global implications, for instance, the North-South international transport corridor.  

We are both Caspian nations. We will concentrate on supporting and invigorating the cooperation mechanisms on the Caspian Sea, in part, on regional security issues. I am referring to the 3+3 consultative regional platform that has been approved by all participants at the initiative of President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev.

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