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Russian, Turkish top diplomats discuss 3+3 mechanism for South Caucasus — foreign ministry

Additionally, the two ministers touched upon other international issues and the key issues of the Russian-Turkish ties

MOSCOW, October 30. /TASS/. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and his Turkish counterpart Mevlut Cavusoglu focused on the prospects of a regional ‘3+3’ platform in the South Caucasus at their meeting on the margins of the G20 summit in Rome on Saturday.

"The coordination of the two countries’ efforts to further stabilize the Balkans and the South Caucasus was the main focus of the conversation. They discussed potential joint steps to facilitated Bosnian settlement, including the use of multilateral formats. They exchanged views on prospects for launching a 3+3 regional mechanism in order to unblock economic and transport ties and to promote mutually beneficial infrastructure projects in the South Caucasus," the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement released after the meeting.

Additionally, the two ministers touched upon other international issues and the key issues of the Russian-Turkish ties.

The presidents of Azerbaijan and Turkey - Ilham Aliyev and Recep Tayyip Erdogan - earlier put forward a proposal to hold six-party talks (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Russia, Turkey and Iran) on Karabakh and on the unblocking of economic and transport communications in the region. Iran welcomed the idea assuring of its willingness to help seek peace for the region. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Russia was working with Armenian counterparts and that it hoped that Georgia would take an interest in this mechanism.

On October 8, Georgian Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister David Zalkaliani said that Tbilisi should be somehow represented in the new negotiation format, despite the current disagreements with Russia. His words drew a strong rebuke from the opposition.