Russia aims to turn the "3+3" platform into official organization, says top diplomat

Russia is working to convert the South Caucasus "3+3" platform into a formal organization, said Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Galuzin, News.az reports citing TASS.

"We believe the '3+3' regional cooperation platform to be important for harmonizing the interests of all countries of the region. We are working on its transformation into a full-fledged organization for interaction in the South Caucasus," the senior diplomat said at the Second Russia-Armenia Public Forum.

Galuzin pointed out that Moscow, "as before, does not shy away from supporting Armenian-Azerbaijani normalization in all its tracks."

The initiative of a six-party format for cooperation in the South Caucasus was put forward in late 2020 by Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan. It was later dubbed the '3+3' platform. Russia and Iran welcomed the idea, and Armenia also joined the format. Georgia said it had no plans to join the initiative. On December 10, 2021, the first meeting of the consultative regional platform at the level of deputy foreign ministers of the five countries was held in Moscow.

News.Az