Russian Foreign Ministry: “The Presence of Russian Border Guards in Syunik Must Be Taken into Account”

MOSCOW — In the event of reopening communication routes through Armenia’s Syunik Province, the presence of Russian border guards must be taken into consideration. This was stated by Alexey Fadeev, Deputy Director of the Department of Information and Press of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, during a briefing in response to a request for comment on the trilateral declaration signed on August 8 in Washington by the leaders of Armenia, the United States, and Azerbaijan.

Fadeev noted that Russia continues to view the trilateral agreements reached between the leaders of Russia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan in 2020–2022 as relevant, since none of the parties has announced its withdrawal from them. He added that both the Russian Foreign Ministry and the Russian leadership have repeatedly expressed Moscow’s readiness to assist partners in normalizing relations.

As for the “Trump Route,” the Russian Foreign Ministry refrained from offering an opinion until it has studied the details of the yet-to-be-published project.

“As we have stated earlier, the involvement of extra-regional powers in the South Caucasus must promote a peace agenda, rather than create new problems or dividing lines. We have also emphasized the need to take into account Armenia’s membership in the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) and the presence of Russian border guards in the Syunik Province. We believe these factors must be considered when drafting the project’s details,” Fadeev said.