On June 9, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Galuzin stated that the involvement of the Washington platform in the process of Armenian-Azerbaijani normalization should be considered in the context of the attempts of the United States to oust Russia from the negotiating track. 

"The United States is trying to achieve the same thing everywhere - on the one hand, to oust Russia, and on the other hand, to subjugate independent states that are partners and allies of Russia in a neo-colonial style, to interfere with our partnership and alliance with our friends and neighbors. This has been the main task of the United States so far," the Deputy Head of the Russian Foreign Ministry emphasized.

Galuzin noted that Moscow is by no means opposed to some other countries contributing to the assistance to Armenian-Azerbaijani settlement, but this should be assistance not in words but in deeds and lie in line with those fundamental agreements that the leaders of Russia, Azerbaijan, and Armenia achieved. Accordingly, the efforts of Western mediators should give added value precisely from the point of view of implementing the fundamental documents on the Armenian-Azerbaijani normalization, which the Deputy Minister called uncontested.

"I would like to emphasize once again that the trilateral agreements between the President of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Putin, the President of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev, and the Prime Minister of Armenia, Nikol Pashinyan, sealed in four joint statements, the first of which was signed on November 9, 2020, assess the only roadmap for the Armenian-Azerbaijani settlement," Galuzin added. He recalled that these agreements provide for a set of joint steps with the assistance of Russia - unblocking economic ties and transport communications in the region, preparing and signing a peace treaty, delimiting the border between the two Transcaucasian republics and supporting the settlement process through a dialogue through the public, parliament, and experts of Armenia and Azerbaijan.

"As you know, work is underway in each of these areas. On June 2, a meeting of a trilateral working group at the level of deputy prime ministers chaired by Alexei Overchuk was held in Moscow, where the issues of resuming transport links were considered, and significant progress was made," Galuzin said. "Moscow will continue its efforts in full accordance with the tripartite statements to help resolve the entire range of issues of the Armenian-Azerbaijani normalization, including progress towards the signing of a peace treaty," the Russian Deputy Foreign Minister assured.