Lavrov Accuses US of Trying to Undermine Agreements On South Caucasus Stability

MINSK — Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has accused the United States and other Western powers of “trying to undermine agreements” that he said are aimed at stabilizing the situation in the South Caucasus.

He made the remarks after a meeting of foreign ministers of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), a loose organization comprising about a dozen former Soviet nations, that was held in Minsk, Belarus, on Friday.

At a press conference following the gathering Lavrov claimed that a common understanding among CIS participants that “the United States and its satellites are trying to invade all regions of the common territory of the Commonwealth.”

“They are trying to undermine the agreement on the stabilization of the situation in the Caucasus, in particular in the South Caucasus. They do not want to allow the implementation of the agreements that were reached between Armenia and Azerbaijan with the mediation of Russia. They are also actively trying to penetrate Central Asia. They create various formats that are openly aimed against the Russian Federation,” the Russian foreign minister contended.

At the same time, Lavrov claimed that Russia’s partners remain committed to the principles of cooperation within the framework of the CIS. “Under enormous pressure [from the West] our allies, our strategic partners, remain committed to all the basic principles on which cooperation within the CIS, within the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), within the Eurasian Economic Union, and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization is based,” Lavrov said, as quoted by Russian news agency TASS.

Lavrov reportedly expressed his confidence that strategically the policies of West are “doomed to failure.”

Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan did not attend the CIS meeting in Minsk. Armenia was represented by his deputy Mnatsakan Safaryan.