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Tbilisi won’t participate in 3+3 format over South Caucasus — minister

In early October, Georgian Foreign Minister David Zalkaliani stated that in spite of difficulties with Moscow, "Tbilisi should be represented in some form in such large geopolitical projects"

TBILISI, November 19. /TASS/. Georgia doesn’t intend to participate in the "3+3" negotiations (Azerbaijan, Armenia, Georgia - Russia, Turkey, Iran) on the issue of unblocking economic and transport ties in the South Caucasus region, Georgia’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs David Zalkaliani reported on Friday.

"Tbilisi won’t participate in the negotiations of "the platform of six". I spoke about this during visits to Turkey and Azerbaijan," Zalkaliani said.

In early October, the Georgian foreign minister stated that in spite of difficulties with Moscow, "Tbilisi should be represented in some form in such large geopolitical projects." Later Georgia’s Strategic Communications Department of Foreign Ministry refuted the minister’s statement, calling it a media interpretation.

In October, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov stated at the press conference following the talks with his Iranian counterpart Hossein Amir-Abdollahian that he had discussed with his Iranian colleague the initiative to create a "3+3" format to include Azerbaijan, Armenia, Georgia and Turkey over the issue of unblocking all transport links and economic ties in the region. As the Russian minister added, the Iranian side is supportive of this initiative, along with Azerbaijan and Turkey. Moscow is working with its Armenian colleagues and hopes that Georgia would be able to realize its fundamental interest in creating such a mechanism.

The initiative of a six-party format of cooperation on Nagorno-Karabakh was earlier put forward by the presidents of Azerbaijan and Turkey, Ilham Aliyev and Tayyip Erdogan. Iran welcomed the idea, saying it was ready to facilitate moves towards the strengthening of peace in the region.

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