Armenia Calls on Russia to Refrain from Sabotaging Peace Efforts in the South Caucasus

YEREVAN — The Armenian government denounced on Tuesday Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov’s  claim that it is “sabotaging” a Russian-brokered agreement to open transport links between Azerbaijan and its Nakhichevan exclave through Armenia’s Syunik province.

It also called on Russia to refrain from sabotaging peace efforts in the South Caucasus and reaffirmed its commitment to the opening of regional communications within the Framework of the Crossroads of Peace project.

“The Government of the Republic of Armenia has repeatedly reaffirmed and continues to reiterate its commitment to the peace agenda and will do its part to successfully implement it,” Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Ani Badalyan said in a statement.

The comment come after Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov stated in Baku that “Armenia sabotages the agreement to unblock communications through the Syunik region.”

“The false, clearly biased, often disrespectful comments of various officials of Russia’s Foreign Ministry regarding Armenia, unfortunately, are not new, and if you have noticed, it has been a while since we even reacted to them,” the Foreign Ministry Spokesperson said in response.

She noted that the Russian Foreign Minister’s statement not only causes regret but also calls into question the constructive engagement of the Russian Federation in the normalization process of relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan.

“The Foreign Minister of a country that once undertook a mediator’s mission, signed the November 9, 2020 Statement and deployed a peacekeeping contingent in the region, cannot but see that there is not a single key provision of that Statement that would not have been irrevocably violated, despite Russia’s signature under the document and its participation and responsibility in the processes envisaged by it. We also believe that the Foreign Minister of Russia is well aware that apart from public documents, Armenia is not a part of any other agreement and, therefore, cannot sabotage them,” Badalyan stated.

She emphasized that the Crossroads of Peace project presented by the Government of the Republic of Armenia is already widely recognized among the international community, and has been presented to representatives of the Russian Federation on several occasions.

“We reaffirm that opening regional communications within its framework is possible literally at any moment. The Crossroads of Peace project has received a positive response from a number of international partners. We call on our colleagues from the Foreign Ministry of Russia to refrain from sabotaging through biased statements both the project and the efforts to achieve peace in the South Caucasus.

“The Government of the Republic of Armenia has repeatedly reaffirmed and continues to reiterate its commitment to the peace agenda and will do its part to successfully implement it,” the Spokesperson said.