Russia has not received any petitions for participation in the TRIPP project, but all interested parties are aware of Moscow’s readiness and capabilities. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told this to reporters following his visit to Azerbaijan.
Lavrov attended the Seventh Summit of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia (CICA) held in Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan.
“We [i.e. Russia] have welcomed the process of normalizing relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan and are ready to participate in infrastructure projects. Russian Railways [company] operates within the framework of the South Caucasus Railway [company’s] concession [management]. We are familiar with this entire infrastructure, we provide its technological maintenance,” Lavrov said.
In this regard, he mentioned the “3+3” regional cooperation format initiated by Azerbaijan and Turkey.
“That would be right. But why am I mentioning this format? It is actually comprehensive, it is not dedicated to any one project that is planned to be implemented outside the pan-regional context. We have gathered several times, and now we are waiting for Armenia and Azerbaijan to agree on who will next host the meeting of foreign ministers of this group. I think the upcoming meeting can be held in Azerbaijan, and the next one in [Armenia’s capital] Yerevan; that would be right," the Russian foreign minister said.