According to the Russian Foreign Ministry, the three ministers touched upon “humanitarian” issues and the “unblocking of economic and transport links” in the region.
Armenian Foreign Minister Ara Ayvazian was cited by his office as telling Lavrov that Azerbaijan is continuing to violate the ceasefire agreement brokered by Moscow on November 9. Ayvazian singled out Baku’s refusal to free more than 100 Armenian prisoners of war and civilians remaining in Azerbaijani custody.
The truce accord calls for the restoration of transport links between Armenia and Azerbaijan. Russian President Vladimir Putin, his Azerbaijani counterpart Ilham Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian decided to set up a trilateral “working group” for that purpose when they met in Moscow on January 11.
The group co-headed by deputy prime ministers of the three states has held several meetings since January 30. Its Russian co-chair, Alexei Overchuk, met with Aliyev and Pashinian in Baku and Yerevan on Thursday.
Aliyev reportedly praised the trilateral group, saying that it has already achieved concrete results. He also told Overchuk that the risk of a renewed escalation of the Karabakh conflict is now minimal.
Aliyev and Putin spoke by phone later on Thursday. According to the Kremlin, they both were satisfied with the work of the Russian-Armenian-Azerbaijani task force.