Russian MFA comments on Azeri, Georgian, Turkish Declaration

The Russian Foreign Ministry's statement is a response to the Tbilisi Declaration on Common Vision for Regional Cooperation signed by the Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Tbilisi on February 7.

The Declaration notes that by implementing major regional projects involving oil and gas pipelines and a railway network, the three states are establishing "long-term and predictable" relations. Armenia has protested against construction of a railway link which will connect Azerbaijan to Turkey via Georgia.

Russia is always ready for any forms of mutually beneficial and transparent cooperation aimed at promoting stability and social-economic prosperity in the Caucasus, the Russian Foreign Ministry said.

The Russian Foreign Ministry said that Moscow will "closely watch the developments in frames of this initiative by our regional partners."

It also noted importance of the fact that the declaration contains a call towards neighboring countries to consider joining the initiative. Civil Georgia