Moscow not invited to take part in TRIPP project in Caucasus: Lavrov

Moscow has not received any proposals to take part in the “Trump Route” transport project in the Caucasus, but Russian infrastructure is familiar, Sergey Lavrov, Foreign Minister of Russia, said.

According to him, the Russian side is ready to take part in infrastructure projects. As the minister clarified, Russian Railways holds a concession and operates within the South Caucasus Railway: “all this infrastructure is familiar to us, it is technologically maintained by us.”

“So far we have received no requests regarding participation in this project of the transport route named after Donald Trump, but all interested parties know about our capabilities and our readiness,” Lavrov told journalists following the summit of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence-Building Measures in Asia (CICA) in Baku.

In this regard, he also mentioned the “3+3” regional cooperation format, initiated by Azerbaijan and Turkey.

“That would be right. But why do I mention this format? It is in fact comprehensive; it is not devoted to some single project that is planned to be implemented outside the all-regional context. We have met several times, and now we are waiting for Armenia and Azerbaijan to agree on who will host the next meeting of the foreign ministers of this group. I think the nearest meeting could be held in Azerbaijan and the next one in Yerevan. That would be right,” he said.