U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin has said that Russia must first meet its commitments under the 2008 ceasefire agreement and then talk about creating new formats, including the so-called 3+3 platform.

"As for the 3+3 format, I would like to say that Russia, which occupies 20% of Georgia's territory, should focus on honour the 2008 ceasefire agreement before talking about any new platform," Lloyd Austin said at the press conference held with the Minister of Defense of Georgia Juansher Burchuladze.

The idea of the six-country (involving Russia, Turkey, Iran as well as Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia) regional cooperation platform was first voiced by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in December 2020.