Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, addressing the railway issue, said he believes the solution is for a third country that maintains warm relations with both Armenia and Russia to purchase the railway’s concession management rights from Russia, according to Armenpress.
“Within this context, there are now forces saying: let us arrange it so that after Meghri, when the railway enters Nakhichevan, it bypasses Armenia, arguing that Armenia’s railway is under Russian management. Unfortunately, relations between Russia and many countries are strained, but we say the railway is Armenia’s property and Russia does not wish to and will not create obstacles to our regional projects. I have discussed this with the Russian president and know that he supports all these projects. The problem is that in a number of countries, the view is gaining weight that after Nakhichevan there is no need to continue through Armenia because the railway is under Russian management,” the prime minister said.
Pashinyan stated that under the current conditions Armenia risks losing its strategic positions and competitive advantages.
“The solution I envision is that a country maintaining friendly relations with both Russia and Armenia simply buys the concession management rights from Russia. For example, Kazakhstan, the UAE, Qatar, or any other country, countries that have equally warm relations with both the Russian Federation and Armenia,” Nikol Pashinyan noted.
Regarding the reconstruction of the Yerasakh and Akhurik sections, on which Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexei Overchuk had expressed readiness to negotiate, Pashinyan said he sees no need for negotiations with Russia.
“First, I welcome the statement of Russia’s deputy prime minister, but on the other hand, in one case we are talking about roughly three kilometers, in the other about one kilometer. This is not an issue for negotiating and renegotiating — what is there to negotiate? It is a railway; I repeat, if this were a major investment project costing $50 million, that would be different. It is simply a matter of building one kilometer in one place and three kilometers in another. By the time we do this, an alternative railway will be built and we will say again that Armenia has been bypassed. No, there is nothing to negotiate — let us build it and then negotiate,” Pashinyan said.
Earlier it became known that Russia would participate in restoring railway sections running from Armenia’s territory toward Turkey and Azerbaijan. This was announced by Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexei Overchuk.
The sections in question are located near the town of Yerasakh on the border with Azerbaijan and near the village of Akhurik on the border with Turkey.
