Nikol Pashinyan on the opening of transport communications

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said that a trilateral working group headed by the Deputy Prime Ministers of Russia, Azerbaijan, and Armenia is working to open all transport communications.

"We hope to achieve concrete results in the near future. This means that Armenia will have rail and road links with Russia and Iran through Azerbaijan, and Azerbaijan with the Nakhchivan Autonomous Region through Armenia," said Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan.

He added that Armenia supports "scenarios for the opening of transport communications, which can be a symbol and means of peace, not isolation and hostility."

Pashinyan complained that it has become very difficult to put forward "an agenda of peace in the face of constant threats and provocations."

"Many not only do not believe, but they also do not even want peace and stability in our region. And it is very difficult to set a peace agenda in such conditions. But we are determined and will do our best to achieve peace and stability in our region,” he stated.

Pashinyan noted that the only way to achieve this goal is dialogue and the gradual elimination of hostility in the region, including "lifting of the blockade" on all regional transport and economic communications.

After the November 10 statement ending the Second Karabakh War, the opening of transport and economic communications in Azerbaijan and Armenia was often discussed.

Earlier, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said that although the November 10 statement "clearly stated" the establishment of a transport link connecting Azerbaijan with Nakhchivan, this connection was not established and "negotiations on the Zangezur corridor remain fruitless."

Speaking about the "Zangezur corridor", he repeatedly stressed that the opening of this transport communication will be economically beneficial for the region’s countries.

Mine maps

Armenia is ready to provide Azerbaijan with maps of mined areas in exchange for the return of Armenian servicemen detained in Azerbaijan.

The statement came from Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan at a video conference of the CIS Council of Heads of State in Minsk.

The Prime Minister of Armenia regrets that despite paragraph 8 of the tripartite statement of November 9, 2020 (November 10), "Azerbaijan has not yet released all Armenian prisoners of war and illegally detained civilians,” he added.

Pashinyan said he was ready to provide Azerbaijan with maps of mined areas "not affecting Armenia's security interests."

"This is a purely humanitarian issue, and we hope it will be resolved soon," Pashinyan indicated.

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev has said that all Armenian captives detained during the war have already been handed over to Armenia.

"Azerbaijan handed over all prisoners of war before Armenia handed over Azerbaijani prisoners to us," Ilham Aliyev stated.

According to him, the "group of 62 provocateurs" who passed from Armenia to Azerbaijan after the November 10 declaration cannot be considered prisoners of war under international conventions.

Azerbaijan has returned some of the servicemen convicted under the country's Criminal Code to Armenia.

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