Baku, Azerbaijan, Apr. 7
By Elmira Tariverdiyeva - Trend:
April 7 may be called a rueful date in Armenia's history since it is the day when it became obvious that Yerevan's allies in the region have drifted apart from it.
Today, on April 7, Baku hosted a trilateral meeting of foreign ministers of Azerbaijan, Russia and Iran, and the parties discussed a wide range of cooperation issues. All the three ministers at a press conference in Baku were in high spirits and happy to answer questions about joint projects and prospects of cooperation between Azerbaijan, Russia and Iran.
Particular attention was paid to the project on the North-South corridor, which will run through the territories of Azerbaijan, Russia and Iran linking Europe and Asia.
Azerbaijan's Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov said during the press conference that both Iran and Russia attach great importance to the transportation corridors passing through their territories, in particular the railway networks.
His remarks were supported by the Iranian FM Mohammad Javad Zarif, who pinned great hopes on the unique transportation capabilities of the region.
The remarks voiced by Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov are of great importance. He emphasized the importance of resolving the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, exactly in the light of the new projects underway in the region.
The threat of escalation of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict can undermine the image of the South Caucasus as a transportation and infrastructure region, according to the Russian FM.
Simply put, Armenia's aggression policy, which hinders the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and bringing peace and stability to the region, can harm the interests of both Russia and Iran.
Azerbaijan, as an equal partner of Russia and Iran - the region's two major counties, plays an important role in the implementation of the joint projects.
Meanwhile, Armenia, which is called Russia's "strategic ally", only creates problems for Moscow, both politically and economically.
Armenia, a country that doesn't have resources, but has lots of empty ambitions, can not be useful in the implementation of new ideas and projects in such a strategically important region as the South Caucasus.
Of course, during their meeting in Baku, the FMs couldn't bypass the most important issue - contribution of Tehran and Moscow to resolving the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.
Here too, both countries expressed their full support for Baku in the issue of inadmissibility of keeping the status quo, which, in fact, doesn't exist after the five-day hostilities between the Armenian and Azerbaijani troops.
The Russian foreign minister, Lavrov, was even so optimistic that he said, "All the components of an agreement on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict are on the table and the only task is to find the wording."
Considering that Lavrov will visit Yerevan tomorrow, it can be hoped that Moscow will try to really implement its initiatives on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict's settlement, especially when the stability in the region is in Moscow's own interests.
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Elmira Tariverdiyeva is the head of Trend Agency's Russian news service, follow her on Twitter: @EmmaTariver