On 11 January, following the meeting in Moscow (Caucasus Watch reported), Armenia’s Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev and Russia’s President Vladimir Putin signed a joint declaration on the economic development of Nagorno-Karabakh.  

The joint declaration foresees the unblocking of all economic and transportation routes in the region and the establishment of a tripartite Working Group under the joint chairmanship of the Vice-Prime Ministers of Azerbaijan, Armenia and Russia. The Working Group will hold the first meeting on 30 January 2021 and based on the results it will form a list of the main areas of work arising from the implementation of point 9 of the trilateral statement, setting railway and road communications as priorities, and will also determine other areas as agreed between the three parties of the statement. 

The co-chairs of the Working Group will approve the composition of the expert subgroups in these areas, which will be made of officials of the competent authorities and organisations of the Parties. The expert subgroups, within a month after the meeting of the Working Group, will present a list of projects with justification of the necessary resources and activities for their implementation and approval at the highest level by the Parties. By 1 March 2021, a list and a schedule will be created, necessary for the implementation of measures involving the restoration and construction of new transport infrastructure facilities necessary for the organisation, implementation and security of international traffic carried out through Azerbaijan and Armenia, as well as transportations carried out by the two countries, which requires crossing the territories of the two countries.

“This is the second statement signed in the two months since the war ended. It essentially draws a line under what happened last year. The statement is aimed at creating a completely new situation in our region and unblocking transport communications,” stated Aliyev after signing the declaration. “It is of great importance for us because after more than 30 years Azerbaijan will have transport communication with the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic of the Republic of Azerbaijan through the territory of Armenia. Armenia will have a railway communication with Russia and Iran through the territory of Azerbaijan. We will also have access to the Turkish market through the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic and Turkish and Russian railway arteries will also be connected. In other words, this statement opens up great prospects,” he stressed. 

“The situation that evolved between Armenia and Azerbaijan over the years has been finally resolved. I am sure that there will be no attempts by the Armenian side to revise the 10 November Statement, so that both peoples find the will and wisdom to think about the future and about reconciliation” Aliyev added. He also underlined that closer bilateral ties with Russia would be developed, particularly in the economic and humanitarian spheres. 

Speaking on the topic of the railway construction which would tie Azerbaijan with Turkey, the director of Azerbaijan’s economic reforms and communication analysis centre, Vusal Gasimli stated that the costs of the project were estimated at 424 million US dollars. He said that Armenia, using the capabilities of Azerbaijan, could establish transport communication with Russia in two directions – Gyumri-Nakhchivan-Meghri-Baku and Ijevan-Gazakh-Baku.

As for Pashinyan, he said that not all issues had been resolved with the signing of the declaration. “Unfortunately, this conflict has not been resolved. Of course, we managed to secure the ceasefire, but there are still many issues that must be resolved. One of these issues is the issue of the status of Nagorno-Karabakh, and Armenia is ready to continue negotiations within the framework of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairmanship. We were unable to resolve the issue of prisoners of war, and this is the most sensitive and painful issue, because it is a humanitarian issue. We agreed that we will continue to work in this direction,” he stated.

However, Pashinyan expressed his optimism on the economic opportunities which the declaration would bring. “The statement we signed today is really very important, and I will not hide the fact that the implementation of this statement can simply change the economic image and appearance of our region, and economic innovations can also lead to more reliable security guarantees,” he said. The Armenian prime minister also reiterated his intention to forge closer ties with Russia in the upcoming period. 

Alongside the meeting of the Armenian, Azerbaijani and Russian heads of state, a parallel meeting of the three countries' prosecutor generals took place. During the meeting, issues of implementation of the relevant points of the trilateral statement and the joint declaration, as well as mechanisms of legal cooperation were discussed.