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No talk about “extraterritorial corridors”: Russian Deputy PM says sovereignty must be respected

There can be no talk about any “extraterritorial corridors” infringing the sovereignty of any of the parties within the framework of the trilateral working group on unblocking the regional communications in the South Caucasus, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexey Overchuk said in an interview with Rossiyskaya Gazeta.

Russia has always supported the principle of the sovereignty of the parties and clearly follows the positions of the statements of the leaders of the three countries on November 9, 2020 and January 11, 2021, he said.

“The principle is: “Sovereignty over the road is exercised by the country the road passes through.” This means that if the road passes through Armenian territory, then this is an Armenian road, if it passes through Azerbaijani territory, then it is Azerbaijani,” the Deputy PM noted.

“In practice, the implementation of this principle means that in order to enter the territory of Armenia from Azerbaijan via unblocked or newly built roads, border and passport control procedures will be the same as, for example, when entering Armenia from Iran. Similarly, passport control will work when entering Azerbaijan from Armenia. In addition, issues of paying for the use of roads in accordance with the national legislations of the parties, as well as ensuring the safety of the movement of citizens, vehicles and goods of one country through the territory of another country are being discussed,” Overchuk said.

He noted, however, that it will be possible to open or build roads only after the parties clearly define the legal regime for crossing the border between countries, as well as traffic on these roads.

The trilateral working group is chaired by the Deputy Prime Ministers of Armenia, Russia and Azerbaijan.

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