News - Russia ambassador to Baku: We welcome current process of Azerbaijan-Armenia relations’ normalization

The signing of the peace agreement between Azerbaijan and Armenia will depend on the political will of Baku and Yerevan. I hope it will happen soon. This was stated by Russian ambassador to Azerbaijan Mikhail Yevdokimov, in an interview with Russian-language Utro monthly of Azerbaijan. "We [i.e. Russia] welcome the current process of normalization of relations between Azerbaijan and Armenia, including the negotiations between the foreign ministers of the two countries on the peace treaty, held in Almaty on May 10 and 11. It is another step on the road to achieving stable peace and prosperity in the South Caucasus. It is important that the leaders of Russia, Azerbaijan, and Armenia have decided on the irreplaceable ‘roadmap’ of the reconciliation process between the two countries that are our allies. It is about concluding a peace treaty, unblocking transport communications in the region, border delimitation and demarcation, establishment of permanent contacts between civil societies. In this regard, we support the process of border delimitation and demarcation that has started between Azerbaijan and Armenia. We proceed from the fact that it should be stable, balanced, and mutually acceptable. We are ready to provide advisory support to the parties, if necessary. As for external pressure, the Armenian-US-EU high-level meeting held in Brussels on April 5 is a vivid example of the irresponsible and destructive intervention of foreign forces in the affairs of the region. We agree with the President of Azerbaijan I. H. Aliyev's repeated assessment that the purpose of the [aforesaid] meeting is the creation of dividing lines in the South Caucasus. Another such example is the current EU monitoring mission in Armenia. With the addition of a Canadian ‘expert’ to it, it actually has turned into a paramilitary western operation with dubious intentions. The staff list of its employees has already increased at least twice, new bases are being opened. The fact that the [aforementioned] mission is a tool of the West's hybrid war is confirmed by its secrecy, non-accountability, and non-subordination to either Armenia or Azerbaijan. It carries out openly provocative work, engages in anti-Russian propaganda, acquires an anti-Azerbaijani and anti-Iranian character. We are convinced that any problem of a regional and bilateral nature in the South Caucasus should be resolved in accordance with the principles of ‘regional responsibility,’ agreed upon in Tehran in October 2023 during the second session of the consultative regional platform of the 3+3 format, the participants of which were both Armenian and Azerbaijani colleagues,” said the Russian ambassador to Azerbaijan.