As a State Department spokesperson told Europetime, Russia should focus on withdrawing its troops from all countries in the region and contributing to peace before initiating other discussion platforms.
„We encourage the countries of the South Caucasus to work together to resolve disputes and to strengthen regional cooperation. While outside actors can play a productive role supporting such efforts, they should not try to impose their own agenda on the region.
Russia, which is currently waging a brutal war in Ukraine, has killed thousands and displaced millions more. It should focus on withdrawing its troops - from all countries in the region-and contributing to peace before initiating other discussion platforms“, - a State Department spokesperson told Europetime.
The next meeting on the South Caucasus issues in the "3 + 3" format (Azerbaijan, Armenia, Georgia - Russia, Turkey, Iran) will be held in the near future, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said at a press conference after meeting with his Turkish counterpart.
"We agreed on how to continue working in the South Caucasus. As you know, a 3 + 3 format was created on the initiative of Turkey. We held the first meeting in Moscow, where Georgian colleagues could not take part, but we emphasize that we will always be happy with their participation. The next meeting is being prepared now, I hope we will be able to announce it in the near future," Lavrov said.
Georgia refused to take part in the first meeting, which took place in Moscow on December 10, 2021.
Following the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, which is a landlocked region in southwest Azerbaijan near the southeastern border of Armenia, in 2020 Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan put forward the idea of launching a six-nation platform that includes the cooperation of Turkey, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Georgia, Russia and Iran in order to establish stability and peace in the region.
Georgia and Russia suspended their diplomatic ties following the Russia-Georgia war in 2008 when it declared the independence of Georgia’s occupied Abkhazia and Tskhinvali (South Ossetia) region on August 26, 2008.
