The multilateral meeting took place in Istanbul within the framework of the so-called “Consultative Regional Platform 3+3” launched in December 2021 in Moscow. Georgia boycotts the platform due to continuing Russian occupation of its breakaway regions.
“We, the Turks and the Iranians offered our colleagues, Yerevan and Baku, to use the 3+3 platform to complete the work on a peace treaty,” Lavrov told a news conference after the meeting.
He said in this context that he “reminded” the Turkish, Iranian, Armenian and Azerbaijani foreign ministers of the “groundwork” for delimiting the Armenian-Azerbaijani border, opening it to commerce and settling other issues which was laid during Russian-mediated talks held by Baku and Yerevan in 2021-2023.
Armenia’s reaction to the proposal revealed by Lavrov was not clear. The Armenian Foreign Ministry did not immediately answer a relevant question from RFE/RL’s Armenian Service.
Amid its mounting tensions with Moscow, Yerevan has repeatedly declined in recent months Russian offers to help resolve the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict. Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian said in late August that he prefers direct negotiations with Baku. His domestic critics have denounced this negotiating strategy, saying that it only helps the Azerbaijani side clinch unilateral Armenian concessions.
In his speech at the Istanbul meeting, Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan did not directly mention Armenian-Azerbaijani contacts on the peace treaty. Instead, Mirzoyan presented Yerevan’s position on creating transport links between Armenia and Azerbaijan and in the region as a whole. They should be based on “respect for the sovereignty and jurisdiction of all states as well as equality and reciprocity,” he said.
“I am glad to stress that this [Crossroads of Peace] initiative has been welcomed by many of our partners, and Iran was among the first ones,” added Mirzoyan.
Meanwhile, Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov reiterated Baku’s demands for a change of Armenia’s constitution. He said this is a necessary condition for not only the Armenian-Azerbaijani settlement but also “lasting peace in the region.”