Armenia is interested in opening of communications in the South Caucasus, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said on Wednesday at the plenary session of the Eastern Economic Forum (EEF).
“On January 11, 2021, in Moscow, we signed a statement with the presidents of the Russian Federation and Azerbaijan on the establishment of a trilateral working group headed by the vice-premiers of the Russian Federation, Armenia and Azerbaijan, which deals with the opening of communications in our region,” he recalled.
“The idea of this project is that Armenia will receive transport routes through the territory of Azerbaijan, and Azerbaijan will receive transport routes through the territory of Armenia. In a global sense, this is an opportunity to open new international trade routes, and I must say that we are very interested in this and hope to see the issue solved soon with Russia’s support,” the Prime Minister said.
He noted progress in the work of the trilateral group, but added that it’s still necessary to discuss the judicial regulations.
“One thing is clear. The roads to be opened will be under the absolute sovereignty of the countries they pass through, and we hope that based on this principle we will be able to realize the project, which we call Armenian Crossroads. We hope that roads connecting north to the south and the east to the west will pass through Armenia. I think this project is of great importance not only to Armenia, the countries of the region – Iran, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Turkey, but also to Russian Federation, for countries of the Far East,” PM Pashinyan said.
According to Pashinyan, Armenia also counts on Russia’s support in negotiations with Azerbaijan, including as a co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group. “An intensive conversation is going on with Azerbaijan over the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh problem, and in this context, we also hope for the support of the Russian Federation, not only as a strategic ally of the Republic of Armenia. The Russian Federation is also a very close partner for Azerbaijan, and this opens up opportunities, I think,” Pashinyan said.
