YEREVAN, MAY 15, ARMENPRESS. Russia welcomes the negotiations of the foreign ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan on the peace treaty on May 10-11 in the city of Almaty, Kazakhstan, said Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Russia Mikhail Galuzin during an interview with News.ru.

"We welcome the negotiations of the foreign ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan on the peace treaty on May 10 and 11 in Almaty. Another important step has been taken in the direction of achieving reliable and long-term peace in the South Caucasus. We fully support Astana's efforts in this direction. Kazakhstan played a significant role in the development and adoption of the 1991 Zheleznovodsk Declaration, which was one of the earliest substantial efforts to resolve the military confrontation in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict zone. The importance of ensuring that the discussions in Almaty align with the high-level trilateral agreements of 2020-2022, which outlined the roadmap for normalizing relations between Yerevan and Baku,”said Galuzin.

Speaking about the unblocking of transportation communications in the South Caucasus, Galuzin drew attention to the fact that Russia does not use the term "Zangezur Corridor" put into circulation by the President of Azerbaijan. "Russia stands not for the creation of one specific route, but for unblocking all transport and economic communications in the South Caucasus. This is exactly what the tripartite working group created by the decision of the leaders of Russia, Azerbaijan and Armenia in 2021, under the joint co-chairmanship of the deputy prime ministers of the three countries," Galuzin noted.

He mentioned that the tripartite working group worked rhythmically and was able to record significant results. The Russian Deputy Foreign Minister noted that by June 2023, there was a general understanding on the issue of restoring rail communication between Armenia and Azerbaijan, adding that the parties had practically reached a systematic and balanced agreement.

Galuzin said that this process has stopped, but not through Russia's fault. According to him, Yerevan also adopted a decision to freeze cooperation at the level of the tripartite working group.

On 10-11 May 2024 negotiations were held between Ararat Mirzoyan, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Armenia, and Jeyhun Bayramov, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Azerbaijan, in Almaty, Kazakhstan.

According to the Armenian Foreign Ministry, the Ministers welcomed the progress on delimitation and agreements reached in this regard. The Ministers and their delegations continued discussions on the provisions of the draft bilateral Agreement on the Establishment of Peace and Interstate Relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan. The parties agreed to continue negotiations on the open issues where differences still exist.

During the course of the visit, the Ministers met with Murat Nurtleu. Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Kazakhstan, both separately and in a bilateral format.

Minister Ararat Mirzoyan has expressed appreciation to the Kazakhstan side for hosting the negotiations between Armenia and Azerbaijan.