A "3+3 format" meeting on the issue of the South Caucasus is being prepared, and the dates and agenda are now being agreed upon. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said this at Monday’s press conference in Moscow after talks with his visiting Azerbaijani counterpart, Jeyhun Bayramov.

"We also talked about the activities of the 3+3 consultative, regional platform, referring to the three South Caucasus republics [i.e., Armenia, Georgia, and Azerbaijan] and their three neighbors: Russia, Iran, and Turkey. This was once the initiative of the President of Azerbaijan; the first meeting was held. Now we are preparing another such event, we are agreeing on the specific dates and agenda," said the head of the Russian Foreign Ministry.

Reflecting on the matter of normalization of relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan, Lavrov stated that the basis for this process is the statements signed by the leaders of Armenia, Russia, and Azerbaijan. According to him, in his meeting with Bayramov, the entire range of matters of the normalization of Armenian-Azerbaijani relations was discussed in detail—and in accordance with the tripartite documents signed by the leaders of the three countries.

"These documents, in our shared conviction, remain a firm, solid, reliable basis for the full settlement of all issues—including the unblocking of [regional] transport and economic links, the delimitation of the border between Armenia and Azerbaijan, and the achievement of concrete agreements aimed at concluding a peace treaty."

Lavrov added that Russia stands ready to assist the parties in all the aforesaid.

"But here, of course, it is very important to determine the main, principled moments, and in that sense, what the leaders of Azerbaijan and Armenia agreed on in Prague on October 6—when they had confirmed their commitment to resolving all matters on the basis of the UN Charter and the Alma-Ata declaration of December 1991—is of great importance," he said.

In this case, according to Lavrov, with the assistance of Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, "the solution of the problem is significantly facilitated."