Russia will be able to transit goods to Armenia through Azerbaijan using Baku’s rail networks, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Aleksei Overchuk has said.
‘The Azerbaijani side has confirmed the possibility of using Azerbaijani railways for the transit of Russian products through Azerbaijan to Armenia’, Overchuk said according to media reports published on Sunday.
‘Russian Railways is currently working with its regional colleagues on the organisation of these shipments. We have also given relevant instructions to the Ministry of Agriculture to prepare this new logistics route’, Overchuk said.
The move comes after Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev announced earlier in October that all trade restrictions with Armenia had been lifted, and that the first tranche of goods — a shipment of Kazakh grain — was going to be transported to Armenia from Azerbaijan.
‘This is an extremely important announcement, and I would like to express my appreciation to the President of Azerbaijan for this step and to welcome the statement’, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said in response, adding that the transit of goods from Azerbaijan to Armenia would have been ‘unthinkable’ even a few months ago.
Separately, Pashinyan said, ‘We are ready, not only politically but also technically, starting today, to ensure the transit of freight trucks through Armenian territory from Turkey to Azerbaijan and from Azerbaijan to Turkey’.
The same is true for transit in both directions from Azerbaijan to its exclave of Nakhchivan through Armenian territory, Pashinyan added, while acknowledging that ‘technically, we are not yet ready due to the lack of infrastructure’.
Restoration works are required for rail links to be opened in all directions, Pashinyan said.
During the same address, Pashinyan also spoke about the planned connection between mainland Azerbaijan and Nakhchivan, known as the Trump Route or TRIPP.
‘We confirm our determination to pursue efforts in good faith to achieve this goal in the most expeditious manner’, Pashinyan said, without adding a timeline for when the project would be completed.
On Monday, Pashinyan said Armenia is ready to facilitate lorry transit in both directions between Turkey and Azerbaijan through Armenian territory, adding that it could begin ‘today’.
‘Just as Azerbaijan has lifted the transit restrictions for us, we are lifting the transit restrictions as well’, he added.
In August, Aliyev and Pashinyan held a historic meeting in Washington, hosted by US President Donald Trump, during which a peace deal was initialled, but not signed.
As part of the ongoing peace process, the two countries have been working to normalise relations and open their long-closed borders for trade and other regional connectivity links.
Nate Ostiller
