Yesterday’s statement by Russian FM calls into question Russia’s constructive engagement in Armenia-Azerbaijan normalization – Armenia MFA

Armenian Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Ani Badalyan responded to media inquiries regarding the Russian Foreign Minister’s statement that it is Armenia that sabotages the agreement on unblocking communications in 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.

However, we should say that yesterday’s statement by the Foreign Minister of Russia 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,” Badalyan said.

According to her, the Foreign Minister of the state that once undertook a mediator’s mission, signed the November 9, 2020 declaration and deployed a peacekeeping mission in the region based on it, cannot fail to see that there is not a single key provision of that declaration that is not irrevocably violated, despite Russia’s signature under the document and its participation and responsibility in the processes envisaged by it.

“We also consider it necessary to emphasize that the ‘Crossroads of Peace’ project presented by the Government of the Republic of Armenia is already widely recognized among the international community, and it was also presented several times to the representatives of the Russian Federation. We reaffirm that opening regional communications within its framework is possible literally at any moment. The ‘Crossroads of Peace’ project 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 neither the project nor the efforts to achieve peace in the South Caucasus,” she said.

Badalyan noted that the Armenian government has repeatedly reaffirmed and continues to reiterate its commitment to the peace agenda and will do its part to successfully implement it.