Collective West seeking to persuade Yerevan into reducing ties with  Russia to minimum 

ArmInfo. Russia does not advocate the creation of any one specific route, but rather the  complete unblocking of economic and transport communications in the South Caucasus, Russian Ambassador to Armenia Sergei Kopyrkin stated in an interview with the socio-political publication "Soyuzniki.  CSTO", in response to clarification on Russia's approach to the issue of organizing transit traffic through the southern region of Armenia - Syunik. 

According to the diplomat, this is exactly what the Trilateral  Working Group (TWG), created in 2021 by decision of the leaders of  Russia, Azerbaijan and Armenia, under the joint chairmanship of the  deputy prime ministers of the three countries, was doing.

"The work in the TWG was carried out rhythmically, and significant  results were achieved. Thus, at the 12th meeting of the group in June  2023, a common understanding was agreed on the restoration and  organization of railway communication between Armenia and Azerbaijan.  We practically reached a comprehensive balanced agreement.  Unfortunately, the process, through no fault of ours, stalled. Under  pressure from the "collective West", Yerevan decided to freeze  trilateral cooperation on this track as well," the ambassador said.  According to him, Russia considers it necessary to resume  full-fledged work of the TWG as soon as possible not only to unblock  the transport and communication system of the South Caucasus, but  also to establish sustainable peace and prosperity for the entire  region as a whole.

Touching upon the state of Armenian-Russian bilateral relations, the  diplomat emphasized that Russia maintains active bilateral  cooperation with its partners in the international arena, including  Armenia.  Koprykin recalled the contacts between the countries at the  highest level, drawing attention to the fact that cooperation in the  trade and economic sphere is actively developing. In this vein, he  added that the bilateral Intergovernmental Commission on Economic  Cooperation is working productively. "Its co-chairs - Deputy Chairman  of the Russian Government Alexey Overchuk and Deputy Prime Minister  of Armenia Mher Grigoryan - communicate regularly, including within  the framework of meetings in the EAEU format.  Successful cooperation  with Armenian partners on the cultural and humanitarian track stands  out.

At the same time, our bilateral relations are not without some  difficulties in the political aspect. It is not on our initiative  that the dynamics of interdepartmental contacts have decreased,  including between the Foreign and Defense Ministries of our  countries. We note the overt pressure from the "collective West",  which is trying to force Yerevan to minimize ties with our country,  to limit them in every possible way. 

Despite this, we continue to proceed from the fact that maintaining  and deepening the allied relations between Russia and Armenia meets  the true, fundamental interests of both countries. We note the  publicly voiced intention of the Armenian authorities to work on  eliminating problematic issues. We expect that this will be put into  practice. For our part, we are ready for this," the Russian  ambassador summed up.