Lavrov expresses hope for resumption of Azerbaijan-Nakhijevan railway

YEREVAN, February 28. /ARKA/. Russia hopes for the resumption of the railway link from the mainland Azerbaijani to its exclave Nakhijevan, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said at a press briefing in Baku following talks with his Azerbaijani counterpart.

"Today we have talked a lot about measures that can strengthen peace, security and stability in the South Caucasus and discussed also the Armenian-Azerbaijani normalization. We reaffirmed our commitment to the strict implementation of all the provisions of the statements made by the leaders of Russia, Azerbaijan and Armenia," Lavrov said.

"We talked about progress in the negotiation process to unblock transport and economic links in the South Caucasus. We expect that in the near future, the deputy prime ministers of Russia, Azerbaijan and Armenia, who co-chair a trilateral working group will be able to reach specific agreements on the resumption of the railway link from Azerbaijan and Nakhichevan,' he said.

The 11th meeting of the co-chairs was held on December 6, 2022 in Moscow. They were said to have discussed resumption of railway communication and organization of transportation between the three countries and in the region.

According to the estimates of the Armenian Ministry of Economy, the construction of Yeraskh-Julfa-Ordubad-Meghri-Horadiz railroad may cost $1.2 billion. The construction of the 43-km long railway section through Armenian Meghri may require about $200 million. 

Armenian PM Nikol Pashinyan had set up a working group to deal with the restoration of the railway tracks from Yeraskh in Armenia to the border with Nakhichevan and across the Meghri sub-region of the southern Armenian province of Syunik. The 10-member working group is led by Artashes Tumanyan, a former ambassador to Iran. Tumanyan was to report on the progress of the work to the Prime Minister every three months.-0--0-