The Creation of New Infrastructure Projects Will Ensure the Development of the South Caucasus - Mishustin

The unblocking of transport communications in the South Caucasus will ensure sustainable development in the region. This was stated prior to a meeting with Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan at the extraordinary session of the Eurasian Intergovernmental Council in Tsakhkadzor.

“We consistently advocate for the unblocking of economic, transport, and logistics links in the South Caucasus. In accordance with the agreements between the leaders of Russia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan, I am convinced that the creation of new infrastructure projects will ensure the sustainable economic development of the region,” said Mishustin.

According to him, all of this will also strengthen the connection with the people living in Armenia. Earlier, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexey Overchuk highlighted significant progress concerning the unblocking of transport communications between Armenia and Azerbaijan as a result of the trilateral working group's meeting held in June.

It should be noted that on May 30, Armenian Deputy Prime Minister Mher Grigoryan announced that Armenia is ready to discuss unblocking issues within the framework of two concepts. One of these pertains to infrastructure (specifically railroads), which must be Armenian sovereign infrastructure, while the other principle is that Armenia's jurisdiction must fully extend over them.

Recall that unblocking the region and restoring rail connections were among the main issues on the Armenian-Azerbaijani agenda following the 44-day war and were included in the provisions of the trilateral statement of November 9, 2020. Moreover, agreements on the construction of the Yeraskh-Julfa-Megri-Horadiz railroad were reached during meetings between the leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan in Sochi and Brussels. This route will provide Azerbaijan with a railway connection to Nakhchivan, with which it does not share a land border.