In June 2023, Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Russia were close to restoring transport routes in the region, but under Western pressure, Yerevan stopped participating in working groups and all trilateral formats.

Axar.az informs that this was stated by the official representative of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Maria Zakharova.

According to her, the importance of the trilateral statement of November 9, 2020, cannot be overestimated. She reminded that in January 2021, a summit was held in Moscow with the participation of the leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan:

“At this summit, the peace process was launched, and under its framework, a trilateral working group was created under the leadership of the deputy prime ministers of the three countries. Furthermore, a system of trilateral agreements was established, covering areas such as preparing a peace treaty, lifting the transport blockade, border delimitation and demarcation, and the development of relations between the countries' civil societies. Thanks to this foundation, we were able to achieve real and significant results on many issues.”

According to her, the mediators, the U.S. and the EU, did not offer any new proposals but merely repeated Russia's actions while distorting their essence.

Zakharova also added that in fact, the West is trying to control the peace process to strengthen its influence in the region and push Russia, Iran, and Turkey out:

“For them, the fate of the South Caucasus peoples is not important; only their ambitions drive them. Unlike the West, we are genuinely interested in the security, stability, and prosperity of the South Caucasus. This region is a zone of our historical, economic, and humanitarian interests. We are ready to contribute to its development because it is key to stability and security.”