The CIS Foreign Ministers have discussed the Armenian-Azerbaijani settlement, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Friday.

His remarks came at a press conference after a meeting of the CIS summit in Dushanbe, TASS reported.

Lavrov noted that representatives of Baku and Yerevan appreciated the important proactive role of Russia in the crisis settlement.

According to him, the heads of the CIS diplomatic missions discussed the West's attempts to expand its influence in Central Asia by damaging relations in a number of structures involving the region. "We discussed the situation in Central Asia, including those attempts with regard to the Central Asian region, which are undertaken by our Western colleagues, the United States, the European Union and the NATO, attempts aimed at strengthening their influence in the region by damaging relations within the CSTO, CIS, SCO and Eurasian Economic Union," he said.

According to Lavrov, the ministers also considered the situation around Afghanistan and its impact on security in Central Asia.