Russia's Lavrov says West is attempting to destabilize situation in South Caucasus

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Tuesday that the West, in pursuing its goal of inflicting a strategic defeat on Russia, is seeking to destabilize the situation in the South Caucasus.

Speaking to the Foreign Ministry board, Lavrov said the West is seeking to undermine Russia's relations with the countries of the region, destroying regional formats of economic and security cooperation, the ministry said in a statement.

Lavrov also pledged to persist in developing mutually respectful and beneficial cooperation with all the states of the region, highlighting Russia's common "centuries-old history, geographical proximity and close human contacts" with them.

The top diplomat said Russia will seek the peaceful settlement of all controversies between Armenia and Azerbaijan, including signing a peace treaty, unblocking transport communications in the region and border delimitation.

The Armenian government press service said in a separate statement that the first border pillar was built earlier in the day on the border between Armenia and Azerbaijan.

Moscow will also continue its efforts on finding a common ground for Georgia with the breakaway regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia within the Geneva International Discussion aimed at an exchange of guarantees of non-appliance of force, the statement said.

The board considered tasks of bolstering regional sovereignty so that its players were able to address their problems without involving external players, it said.

"In this context, the special importance of using the potential of the Consultative Regional Platform "3+3" (Azerbaijan, Armenia and Georgia plus Iran, Russia and Türkiye) was emphasized. Practical steps in this direction have been outlined," it said.