The foreign ministers of Armenia and Russia, Ararat Mirzoyan and Sergei Lavrov, discussed furthering cooperation between to countries, especially within bodies and collective organisations of which the two countries are members.

The two top diplomats met on the sidelines of the Diplomacy Forum, which kicked off in Antalya, Turkey on Thursday.

The focus of the cooperation talks were the Collective Security Treaty Organization—CSTO—the Eurasian Economy Union and the Commonwealth of Independent States, all of which are Russia-led groupings focused on various economic, security and geo-political facets.

The Karabakh conflict and the imperative for a lasting settlement via the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs was also on the agenda, as was the implementation of statements signed by the leaders of Armenia, Azerbaijan and Russia on November 9, 2020, January 11 and November 26, 2021.

Mirzoyan briefed his counterpart about the situation created by the Azerbaijani armed forces in Nagorno Karabakh and the Armenian-Azerbaijani border due to continuous ceasefire violations and provocations by Azerbaijani armed forces, emphasising the need to reduce tensions and prevent escalation of incidents.

The issue of normalising relations between Armenia and Turkey was also discussed.

Mirzoyan’s presence at the Antalyan summit is a direct result of the normalisation process. After weeks of voicing uncertainty about Yerevan’s participation at the forum, which is being led by Turkey’s foreign minister, Mevlut Cavusoglu, Armenia’s foreign ministry announced this week that Mirzoyan would travel to Turkey and take part in the event.