11:33,

YEREVAN, DECEMBER 16, ARMENPRESS. During the Brussels meeting, the Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev reaffirmed the agreement and decision on constructing the Yeraskh-Julfa-Ordubad-Meghri-Horadiz railway.

Speaking at the December 16 Cabinet meeting, the Armenian Prime Minister said that this agreement was reached as a result of the discussions of the trilateral (Armenia, Russia, Azerbaijan) task force dealing with the opening of regional connections.

PM Pashinyan reminded that the agreement was recorded in the November 26 Sochi meeting mediated by Russian President Vladimir Putin, and that this was recorded during the Brussels meeting mediated by the President of the European Council Charles Michel.

“I am underscoring that the railway will function in accordance to internationally accepted border and customs regulations on reciprocal principle, under the sovereignty and jurisdiction of the countries. With this railway Armenia will receive access to the Islamic Republic of Iran and the Russian Federation, while Azerbaijan will receive railway access to Nakhijevan,” Prime Minister Pashinyan said.

Pashinyan highlighted that if Armenia succeeds in starting some dialogue with Turkey and if the opening of border and connections is successfully achieved then this project could become more major, reminding the Yeraskh-Gyumri-Kars railway.

“Of course, before the construction itself there’s a lot to be done, to develop, announce tenders, to reach agreements. Of course, a part of this work is already done, but now we must solve this objective with practical and daily work. Certainly, we will hold narrow-format consultations in the next days to further specify our ideas, the timeframes and the roadmap. Our intention and desire is to have this railway as soon as possible. I wouldn’t want to overestimate the importance of this agreement and project, but on the other hand I don’t want to underestimate it: this is an important agreement, which, I certainly hope we will implement accurately, and which will significantly change the region’s economic, investment, political and security environment, and we must soon focus on solving this issue as well,” Pashinyan said.