Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has said that that Moscow and Ankara are “closely coordinating efforts over the Nagorno-Karabakh issue.”
Addressing the presser with his Turkish counterpart Mevlut Cavushoghlu in Antalya on June 30, Lavrov said that this coordination will help boost the regional cooperation.
“We are convinced that the overall stabilization of the situation will lead to the opening of transport communications in the South Caucasus and the advancement of efforts for economic cooperation with the involvement of regional countries as well as Turkey and Russia,” Lavrov said.
In turn, Cavushoglu said that Turkey and Russia seek sustainable peace and stability in the region.
It should be noted that Turkey and Russia opened a joint monitoring center in Azerbaijan’s liberated Aghdam city in February to monitor the cease-fire in Nagorno-Karabakh following the six-week-war between Azerbaijan and Armenia in autumn 2020.
The monitoring center is staffed by 60 soldiers from both Russia and Turkey. The two countries signed a deal to set up this center on December 1.
Russia also has 2,000-strong Russian peacekeeping contingent that operates on the territory in Nagorno-Karabakh.
The war in 2020 saw Azerbaijan regain control most of its territories in and around Nagorno-Karabakh occupied by Armenia during the war it the early 1990s.
