It Caused Jealousy in Joe Biden's Administration: Lavrov

There is no doubt that the "3+3" format advisory platform (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Russia, Iran, Turkey) serves the interests of all participants. This was stated by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov during a session in the State Duma, according to TASS.

"By the way, it undoubtedly caused jealousy in the administration of former U.S. President Joe Biden, who tried to promote the '3+1' format instead of '3+3', meaning the three South Caucasian countries and Biden's team trying to lead them," said the Russian Foreign Minister.

He also drew attention to the fact that at the last meeting in the '3+3' format, it was decided to turn this advisory platform into a more structured organization. Lavrov defended a proposal by parliament members to create an inter-parliamentary committee under the '3+3' format to organize additional cooperation mechanisms.

Lavrov also emphasized that the doors are open for Georgia in the '3+3' platform. It is worth recalling that the initiative to create a six-party format for regional cooperation and the unblocking of economic and transport links in the South Caucasus was proposed in 2021 by the presidents of Azerbaijan and Turkey, Ilham Aliyev and Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. Russia and Iran welcomed this idea, while Georgia announced that it does not plan to participate in this initiative but is proposing its own negotiation format to Baku and Yerevan.

The first meeting of the advisory regional platform took place in Moscow at the level of deputy foreign ministers on December 10, 2021.