On Friday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov noted that Armenia had ‘taken a break’ and preferred direct bilateral talks with Turkey to normalise relations. 

‘There are no meetings planned yet, our Armenian colleagues have taken a break,’ the Russian state-run media outlet TASS quoted Lavrov, following the third meeting of the 3+3 Regional Cooperation Platform held in Istanbul, Turkey. 

The 3+3 format meeting includes Turkey, Iran, and Russia on one side, and Armenia, Azerbaijan, and, theoretically, Georgia on the other. However, Georgia has declined to join the format, citing Russia’s participation. This format was put forward by the presidents of Azerbaijan and Turkey at the end of 2020 following the Second Nagorno-Karabakh War.

Lavrov also said on Friday that the Armenian side ‘believes that they first need to directly communicate with the Turks and understand what needs to be done’.

Russia has been involved in previous attempts to normalise the Armenian-Turkish relationship, with Lavrov calling its role ‘important’ during the 2007–2009 phase. 

However, on the sidelines of the most recent session, Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirozyan met all of his counterparts that were present, except for Lavrov.

Armenian–Russian relations have been in freefall since the Second Nagorno-Karabakh War in 2020, with Yerevan seemingly pushing itself away from the Moscow-led military alliance, the Collective Security Treaty Organisation (CSTO) in favour of closer security ties with the West.

Russia has nonetheless attempted to maintain its historical role as a power broker in the South Caucasus, and continued to be involved in talks between Armenia and Azerbaijan or Turkey. 

According to Lavrov, the talks between Armenia and Turkey are ‘in any case connected with the Armenian-Azerbaijani normalisation’.

‘So we proposed to consider these issues in a complex and encourage the countries involved to reach an agreement as soon as possible’, Lavrov said, emphasising the readiness of Russia and Iran to provide ‘assistance if there is interest from the direct participants’.

Turkey and Armenia’s long path toward border normalisation

Turkey unilaterally closed its border with Armenia in 1993. It has only been opened once since then, when the closure of the land border was temporarily lifted for lorries carrying humanitarian aid after a major earthquake hit Turkey in February 2023. 

Another round of the normalisation process between Armenia and Turkey kicked off at the end of 2021 with the two countries appointing special representatives to hold talks. The representatives held their latest meeting in July, the fifth of its kind,  on the Margara–Alican crossing between the two countries.

On Friday, during the bilateral meeting of Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan  and his Armenian counterpart Ararat Mirzoyan, the two officials discussed issues on the bilateral agenda and the ongoing Armenia-Turkey dialogue aimed at the full normalisation of relations.

Mirzoyan also made a reference to this during his speech at the latest 3+3 meeting, noting that Armenia is ‘sincerely’ interested in unblocking all economic and transport communications in the region.

Based on ‘the joint assessment’ of the bridge and the border checkpoint, Mirzoyan stressed that the facilities have been constructed and technically equipped to allow for the proposed border opening to proceed. He added that the sides have already agreed to ‘jointly assess the technical requirements’ for reopening the Gyumri-Kars railway. 

Mirzoyan also noted the accomplishments of the respective sides, such as the establishment of direct flights and the reciprocal lifting of bans for air cargo trade. 

In his own statement on Friday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan emphasised that Turkey would continue to provide all possible support towards ensuring a lasting peace between Azerbaijan and Armenia, stressing that ‘developments in the region make it necessary to strengthen cooperation and solidarity’.

Despite the agreements reached in July 2022 to enable the crossing of the land border by third-country citizens ‘at the earliest date possible’, the border still remains closed as of October 2024.