The Doors of the '3+3' Platform Are Open for Georgia, Lavrov Says

The participants of the '3+3' format in the South Caucasus keep the doors open for Georgia, which has yet to join the discussions initiated by Armenia, Azerbaijan, Iran, Russia, and Turkey. This was stated by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov during the third meeting of the Russian-Azerbaijani expert council.

It should be noted that the '3+3' format implies cooperation among three South Caucasian countries—Armenia, Georgia, and Azerbaijan—and their three regional neighbors: Russia, Iran, and Turkey.

“So far, only one meeting has taken place within this format, and our Georgian neighbors have abstained from participation. But we agreed that we would always keep the doors open for Tbilisi, and this is also relevant in the context of preparing for the agreement in the second meeting phase,” Lavrov stated.

According to him, the '3+3' format is very promising and in demand, primarily because it is crucial to exclude the destructive interference of external players who sometimes do not wish to see a stable security system in the South Caucasus and try to influence these processes.

It is worth recalling that in early December 2021, the first meeting of the '3+3' regional consulting platform was held in Moscow, co-chaired by the deputy foreign ministers of Russia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Turkey, and the director of the Iranian Foreign Ministry. Georgia has yet to refuse to join this platform.