Lavrov's Statement Questions Russia's Constructive Engagement

The spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ani Badalyan, has responded to the remarks made by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov yesterday in Baku.

Question: The Russian Foreign Minister claimed that Armenia is the one sabotaging the agreements regarding the unblocking of communications through the Syunik region. How do you comment on this?

Answer: The various biased, clearly one-sided, and often disrespectful comments made by officials from the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs regarding Armenia are unfortunately not new. If you have noticed, we have not even addressed them for some time now.

However, we must point out that the statement made by the head of the Russian foreign policy establishment yesterday not only evokes regret but also calls into question the constructive involvement of the Russian Federation in the process of normalizing relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan.

A foreign minister of a state that once took on a mediating mission, signed the November 9, 2020 statement, and deployed peacekeeping forces in the region cannot fail to see that there is not a single key point of that statement that has not been irreversibly breached, despite Russia's signature on it and its participation and responsibility in the processes envisioned.

We also believe that the Russian Foreign Minister is well aware that beyond public documents, Armenia is not part of any other agreements and therefore cannot sabotage them.

It is also important to highlight that the “Peace Intersection” project presented by the Government of the Republic of Armenia has already gained wide recognition in the international community and has been presented multiple times to Russian representatives as well. We reaffirm that the opening of regional communications is possible literally at any moment.

The “Peace Intersection” project has received positive responses from several international partners, and we urge our colleagues in the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs not to sabotage it with biased statements, nor impede the efforts to achieve peace in the South Caucasus.

The Government of the Republic of Armenia has repeatedly reaffirmed, and now reaffirms, its commitment to the peace agenda, and it will carry out its share of work to successfully implement that agenda.