Pashinyan tells Putin Armenia could retake control of railways if restoration works are delayed
Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has said that he told Russian President Vladimir Putin during a recent meeting that Armenia could retake control of sections of the country’s railroads if Russia cannot complete restoration works in a timely manner. Under a 30-year agreement signed in 2008, Armenia’s railway system is managed by a subsidiary of the state-run Russian Railways company.
Pashinyan said he had made the comments to Putin during a bilateral meeting in St. Petersburg on 22 December.
While the official Kremlin readout of the meeting includes Pashinyan’s comments about the railroad, including that restoration of sections of railways connecting Armenia with Turkey, Azerbaijan, and the Azerbaijani exclave of Nakhchivan, there is no mention of Pashinyan’s suggestion about Armenia possibly retaking control.
In comments at a press briefing on Thursday about the outcomes of the bilateral meeting, Pashinyan said he had ‘expressed our willingness for the Armenian government to take these sections back from the concession, and we will carry out the restoration works with the resources of our state budget if it turns out that Russia faces any issues or sees any problems with completing this work within the proper timeframes’.
Pashinyan did not specify what timeframe he was referring to.
Earlier in December, Pashinyan said he had asked Russia to ‘urgently address’ the full restoration of railway sections adjacent to Nakhchivan and the Turkish border.
Pashinyan’s request for railway restoration comes amid reports since early December suggesting that the Armenia–Turkey land border could be reopened. Earlier in the month, Bloomberg reported, citing sources, that Turkey is considering reopening its land border with Armenia ‘in the next six months’.
Despite a 2022 agreement to allow third-country citizens and diplomats to cross the land border, Turkey has kept the border closed since 1993 and has linked its opening to progress in the Armenia–Azerbaijan peace process.
In recent weeks, Turkish officials, including President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, have made positive comments about the path toward normalisation between Turkey and Armenia.
Arshaluys Barseghyan
