Deputy Foreign Minister Andrey Rudenko's interview with Rossiya Segodnya International Information Agency, December 29, 2021
29 December 2021 18:49
2713-29-12-2021
Question: The year 2021 is coming to an end. Russia actively mediated in the normalisation of Armenia-Azerbaijan relations, but how did bilateral relations with these countries develop?
Andrey Rudenko: It is true that Russia and President Vladimir Putin personally took serious effort to promote rapprochement between our fraternal countries, Armenia and Azerbaijan. Two full-scale meetings were held in Moscow on January 11 and in Sochi on November 26. We worked energetically with Baku and Yerevan to unblock transport links in the South Caucasus, normalise the situation on the Azerbaijan-Armenia border with a view towards its delimitation and strengthening ties between the two countries' civil societies.
The South Caucasus is a region close to us in the direct and figurative senses. Russia wants the South Caucasus to be a safe and prosperous region and its nations to enjoy the advantages of peaceful coexistence. Baku and Yerevan accept the logic of our efforts, appreciate our unbiased approach and remain committed to the trilateral agreements reached at the summit level.
At the same time, we are working to boost our bilateral contacts. Our cooperation with Azerbaijan and Armenia is progressing in all the main spheres, namely the economy, military-technical, healthcare, culture and humanitarian, educational, scientific, technological and other areas.
I would like to note that this year President of Russia Vladimir Putin has held several bilateral meetings with President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev and with Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan, and our leaders have had numerous telephone conversations.
Our sectoral ties are developing actively. Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin has held three meetings with Nikol Pashinyan and last May he hosted an official visit by Prime Minister of Azerbaijan Ali Asadov. Deputy Prime Minister Alexey Overchuk held about a dozen meetings with his colleagues Mher Grigoryan and Shahin Mustafayev, the co-chairs of bilateral intergovernmental commissions on economic cooperation.
Thanks to our joint efforts, our trade and economic indicators have resumed confident growth in the aftermath of the pandemic. Between January and October 2021, Russian-Armenian trade increased by 9.4 percent compared to the same period in 2020 and reached $2.1 billion. Our trade with Azerbaijan from January to September 2021 was $2.3 billion, an increase of 11 percent year on year.
Russian economic operators led by Eximbank and the Russian Export Centre conducted business missions to Azerbaijan in July and November and to Armenia in September. We believe that such events are important for launching new infrastructure projects and for stimulating trade and economic cooperation. The most promising projects include transport infrastructure modernisation, the implementation of intellectual logistics systems, industrial automation and urban improvements.
We have maintained close ties with our Azerbaijani and Armenian partners since the start of the coronavirus pandemic. Teams of specialists from the leading medical facilities of Moscow and several other Russian cities worked in Armenia and Azerbaijan. We have dispatched over 230,000 doses of the Sputnik V vaccine to Yerevan. Our contribution to countering the pandemic in Azerbaijan included the free supply of 120,000 Vector testing kits in 2020 and 200,000 doses of Sputnik V in May through July 2021.
Of course, we are also interested in preserving the common humanitarian space for our countries. Over 2,000 Armenian citizens and over 11,000 Azerbaijanis are studying at Russian universities, including some 700 Armenians and over 11,000 Azerbaijanis in state-funded places. Russian universities have opened branches in Armenia and Azerbaijan and the Russian language is taught in secondary schools there.
Question: Is Russia planning to expand its peacekeeping contingent in Nagorno-Karabakh, or is the current force enough to successfully accomplish the tasks that have been set? How would you describe the situation in the Nagorno-Karabakh zone, and are there any serious problems in the region?
Andrey Rudenko: Today, one can say that the Russian peacekeeping contingent successfully ensures the ceasefire regime in its zone of responsibility. Both Baku and Yerevan agree with this. The leaders of Azerbaijan and Armenia reaffirmed this approach at the November 26, 2021 trilateral summit in Sochi, organised on the initiative of President of Russia Vladimir Putin.
We see no serious security challenges in areas controlled by the peacekeepers. Peace has been established in the region. Separate incidents are not systemic and are quickly resolved in collaboration with both parties.
Additionally, Russian peacekeepers are actively involved in the post-conflict rehabilitation process. Since November 2020, Defence Ministry personnel have checked 1,937 buildings and removed explosive devices on an area of 2,320 hectares and along 683 kilometres of roads. They have located and defused over 26,000 explosive devices. The warring parties have received 1,903 bodies of the deceased. Of this number, the Armenians and the Azerbaijanis have received 1,579 and 324 bodies, respectively.
The region is gradually resuming peaceful life. About 53,000 refugees have already returned to their homes. The Russian peacekeeping contingent's members have escorted over 400 Armenian pilgrims to the Amaras and Gandzasar monasteries. Its soldiers also regularly escort Azerbaijani vehicle convoys.
The warring parties regularly exchange prisoners of war and other detained persons, as well as minefield maps, with the direct participation of the Russian peacekeeping contingent. Peacekeepers have helped repatriate 127 Armenians and 19 Azerbaijanis since the signing of the trilateral statement on November 9, 2020.
Question: What do you think about the work of the Trilateral Working Group on Nagorno-Karabakh since its establishment? How successful has it been in accomplishing its aims? What are the main challenges in its work?
Andrey Rudenko: You seem to be referring to the Trilateral Working Group (TWG) on unblocking economic and transport ties. It was created following the January 11 Moscow Summit and is co-chaired by deputy prime ministers of Russia, Armenia and Azerbaijan.
Let me remind you that this mechanism is designed to deal with all matters related to unblocking transport and economic ties in South Caucasus, including restoring rail and motor traffic in the region. We believe that this is one of the key formats in the efforts to bring Armenia-Azerbaijan relations back to normal. We proceed from the premise that the agreements reached in this format will enable both Baku and Yerevan to feel the economic benefits of living side by side in peace.
With almost a dozen meetings held, the TWG has done an impressive amount of work over the past year. The sides clearly outlined their interests and are now coordinating the parameters for launching joint infrastructure projects, just as the leaders of the three countries agreed during their meeting in Sochi. The TWG co-chairs will keep the media updated on the results they deliver.
Question: Baku insists on creating the so-called Zangezur Corridor to link Azerbaijan to Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic via Armenia's Syunik Province. It has been reported that during the meeting in Brussels between the leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan, Armenia noted that Yerevan would start building a railway soon. Have the two sides asked Russia to help them build this railway? Is Moscow ready to assist them with this project, if both Baku and Yerevan are interested in it?
Andrey Rudenko: It is the TWG that oversees all these matters. Russia's approach is that decisions of this kind will be lasting and sustainable only if there is a consensus between Baku and Yerevan. With this in mind, we stand for ensuring a balance of interests between Armenia and Azerbaijan as part of a single package.
Question: Nikol Pashinyan has said that Yerevan is ready to begin efforts aimed at the demarcation and delimitation of the border between Armenia and Azerbaijan. What role does Moscow see for itself in this process? What are the main challenges on this front, and what additional steps can be made?
Andrey Rudenko: In May, when the situation escalated in specific areas along the border between Armenia and Azerbaijan, the Russian Federation immediately took on a mediating role and offered its assistance on launching the negotiating process between Azerbaijan and Armenia. Let me note that these incidents lie outside of the responsibility of the Russian peacekeepers. This problem has been passed on from the Soviet era and is attributable to the fact that the entire state border between the two countries has never been properly delimitated in terms of international law.
On November 26, the leaders of Russia, Armenia and Azerbaijan met in Sochi and agreed to work on creating a bilateral commission to delimitate the state border between the two countries, with Russia accompanying this process in an advisory role. We proceed from the premise that this will happen soon and do not see any insurmountable obstacles to the implementation of the agreement that was reached at the highest level.
Question: Georgia refused to participate in the first meeting of the 3+3 format on cooperation in the Caucasus. Could Tbilisi's position have a negative impact on the goals that are to be achieved in this format? Do Moscow and its allies have hope that Tbilisi will change its mind and join the format in the future?
Andrey Rudenko: The 3+3 regional consultative platform is a pragmatic and non-politicised format aimed at bringing the countries of the South Caucasus and their neighbours closer together. In our joint work, we focus on topics of common interest such as promoting trade, economic, transport, cultural and humanitarian ties, as well as responding to common challenges and threats. The first 3 + 3 format meeting, held in Moscow on December 10, showed that the participants are interested in continuing a constructive dialogue and establishing hands-on interaction.
We regret that, despite the obvious benefit from participating in this platform, Tbilisi did not send its representatives to the first meeting, although an invitation had been extended. Nevertheless, all the parties expressed their interest in Georgia joining the group and agreed that the door would remain open for that country.
Question: Is there any hope that Moscow and Tbilisi can resume air service in 2022? What do they need for that to happen?
Andrey Rudenko: With the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, we give priority to the public health situation in a country when it comes to resuming flights; we also heed the recommendations from Rospotrebnadzor, the state agency responsible for public health matters.
With regard to Georgia, we also have to take political factors into account. Let me remind you that Russian airlines were banned from performing flights from Russia to Georgia in July 2019 by a presidential executive order, which was an unavoidable measure taken in response to the well-known anti-Russia provocation staged by Georgian radical nationalists. It was a temporary solution and will be abolished as soon as the situation improves, including the coronavirus situation. Georgia is well aware of the conditions for that, so there is no need to repeat them now.
Question: Is Russia ready to help improve relations between Armenia and Turkey?
Andrey Rudenko: Normalisation of the Armenian-Turkish relations would undoubtedly contribute to the improvement of the general situation in the region. In this regard, we welcome Ankara and Yerevan's keen interest in launching a bilateral dialogue they have been showing recently. We note with satisfaction that the parties have appointed special representatives to discuss the possibilities for normalisation, which is a complicated matter.
For our part, we are ready to provide mediation or any other form of assistance. At the same time, we strongly believe that the parties need to avoid advancing preconditions, but should rather focus on mutually acceptable topics and mutual steps that would gradually lead to building an atmosphere of trust and neighbourly relations.
Question: According to reports, protests swept Abkhazia, with activists accusing the local government of failing to cope effectively with the coronavirus and the energy crisis, and of political persecution of the opposition. How can Moscow comment on this? Is Russia ready to help the Abkhazian government and their opponents negotiate and bring the situation back to normal again?
Andrey Rudenko: Our countries are consistently building and strengthening diversified interstate relations. At the same time, the principles of equality, mutual respect for sovereignty and non-interference in internal affairs remain unchanged. Each of the parties has been honouring these principles since the Russian Federation recognised the independence of Abkhazia.
Russia has allocated considerable material and financial resources to support the republic. Our priority here is to develop its socioeconomic infrastructure and improve people's lives. However, not all of Abkhazia's economic problems caused by Georgia's aggression and the long embargo, have been resolved so far.
We are closely following the internal political developments in the republic. We note that the crisis, caused by the unlawful actions of individual opposition-minded protesters in Sukhum, has been gradually subsiding since December 21.
We should admit that, as in any other democratic state, part of the citizens of Abkhazia may be dissatisfied with the local government's policies and can openly express their point of view. Yet, any violent actions against law enforcement officers are absolutely unacceptable.
We intend to continue to assist in the development of an up-to-date legislative framework in Abkhazia, strengthening of its governing bodies, development of civil society, implementation of joint mutually beneficial projects in various fields, the growth of business activity, and the inflow of investment, and will provide the necessary support in training professionals for the national economy.
Question: An important topic today is Russia's proposals on developing long-term legally binding guarantees of security that would rule out further expansion of NATO to the east. As you know, Georgia is among the countries interested in joining NATO. What is your vision of the best regional security arrangement with respect to the South Caucasus?
Andrey Rudenko: Russia stands for peaceful co-existence and equal cooperation with all states, including our neighbours in the South Caucasus. This fully applies to Georgia, despite the fact that Tbilisi was the one to sever ties between our countries.
At the same time, as the leaders of our country have repeatedly stated, Georgia's membership in NATO and deployment of strike systems on its territory are the red lines that we draw because these actions will completely overturn the balance of military and political power in the South Caucasus, creating a direct security threat for Russia and its allies in the region.
Speaking about the best regional security arrangement, we should proceed from the imperative nature of this arrangement based on the current geopolitical reality in the South Caucasus. That will open up the way to a long-term settlement in Georgia's relationship with Abkhazia and South Ossetia, which will be key to building truly neighbourly ties between them. On a practical level, the work on this matter implies signing a legally binding agreement on the non-use of force between Tbilisi as one party and Sukhum and Tskhinval as the other party, as well as launching delimitation of the Georgian-Abkhazian and Georgian-South Ossetian state borders with their subsequent demarcation. These are the issues that Russia prioritises as part of the Geneva International Discussions on security and stability in the South Caucasus.
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