Armenia and Azerbaijan 's readiness to sign a peace treaty does not imply that they are willing to accept any conditions, a senior Russian diplomat said on Friday. While international support for the Armenian-Azerbaijani peace agreement is important, Gonchar said Western countries should not hasten its implementation because the quality of the document is more important than the speed with which it is signed.
The task of responsible mediators is not to force the negotiation process On the contrary, it will lay the prerequisites for new conflicts and tragedies in the future. Priority should be given not to speed, but to the qualitative preparation of balanced and mutually acceptable solutions," he stressed.
Gonchar criticized Western countries for putting pressure on Georgia over its decision to resume air traffic with Russia, including through sanctions, saying Moscow sees such coercive measures as meddling in the internal affairs of sovereign countries and their relations with third countries.
The Russian leadership decided to resume direct flights with Georgia and introduce a visa-free regime for Georgian citizens based on the need to facilitate contact between the people of the two countries and to promote humanitarian and economic ties between Moscow and Tbilisi, he underlined. The diplomat also said there is interest in opening transit routes from Russia to Armenia via Georgia because it will improve the logistics and transit potential of the region and will work in the interests of all South Caucasus countries.
In response to a question about "problematic moments" in Russia's relations with Armenia, Gonchar said they are provoked in the first place by "the incessant attempts of Western countries to harm the Russian-Armenian partnership.
