BAKU, August 6. /TASS/. Russian Security Council Secretary Sergey Shoigu said that during his working visit to Baku, he discussed how the West was trying to upend efforts to create a stable security system in the South Caucusus.
On Tuesday, Shoigu met with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Security Council Secretary Ramil Usubov.
"We discussed a wide range of issues," Shoigu told reporters. "That is, first of all, security in the South Caucasus. And [also] the peace agreement with Armenia, the 10th draft of which has been sent to Yerevan. And, of course, the very active attempts by the West to interfere in this process," he emphasized.
The sides also discussed transport projects, in particular the North-South corridor, Shoigu added.
"And, of course, Ilham Aliyev's idea for talks in the '3+3' format. We support that, and we touched on this as well. And, of course, we need to continue, especially since this '3+3' formula can be useful not only in this specific case, but in general, potentially for stabilizing the situation in the whole South Caucasus," the security official said.
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan proposed the idea of a six-party format for cooperation in the South Caucasus in late 2020. It was later called the ‘3+3’ format. Russia and Iran welcomed the idea, Armenia also joined the initiative, while Georgia refused to engage in it. On December 10, 2021, Moscow hosted the first meeting of the consultative regional platform, involving deputy foreign ministers. Georgia abstained from the 2021 meeting and from this year's meeting as well.