Experts from Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Russia Hold Virtual Meeting

On February 6, an online meeting of the expert subgroup on railway, road transport, and combined transport issues under the joint chairmanship of the Deputy Prime Ministers of the Republic of Armenia, the Russian Federation, and the Republic of Azerbaijan took place. The information was provided by the Ministry of Territorial Administration and Infrastructure of the Republic of Armenia.

According to the statement, sectoral officials from the relevant commissions of the three countries participated in the meeting. Questions related to the condition of the existing railway network in the region for transit transport and the possibilities of automobile communication routes were discussed. The parties exchanged preliminary views on these issues.

As a result of the meeting, the subgroups will continue further discussions on expert evaluations.

It should be noted that on November 9, 2020, Russian President Vladimir Putin, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev adopted a joint statement on the cessation of military actions. On January 11, 2021, in Moscow, a meeting took place between Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, Russian President Vladimir Putin, and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev.

Following nearly 4 hours of negotiations, a tripartite statement was adopted, primarily concerning the implementation of the 9th point of the November 9 statement regarding unblocking all economic and transport connections in the region.

The new tripartite statement mentioned that a working group is being established under the co-chairmanship of the Deputy Prime Ministers of the three countries. The first meeting of Armenia's Deputy Prime Minister Mher Grigoryan, Russia's Deputy Prime Minister Alexei Overchuk, and Azerbaijan's Deputy Prime Minister Shahin Mustafayev took place on January 30 in Moscow.

During the meeting, the main directions of cooperation arising from the implementation of the 9th point of the November 9 statement by the Presidents of Azerbaijan, Armenia, and Russia, as well as the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th points of the January 11, 2021 statement, were discussed. The parties agreed to create expert subgroups and to complete their formation by February 2, 2021, and to hold the first meetings of the subgroups by February 5, 2021.