Armenia is constantly ready to discuss the unblocking of regional connections, but the issue of a corridor will not be discussed, Deputy PM Mher Grigoryan has said.
He said the corridor is a red line for Armenia.
Grigoryan noted that Armenia has been stating that issues related to unblocking can be discussed as part of two highly important concepts.
“First, the infrastructures that we are referring to must be Armenia’s sovereign infrastructures, and second, the Republic of Armenia must have complete jurisdiction over these infrastructures. We’ve always been ready within the framework of these principles, and we stand ready to develop the topic, and eventually unblocking, which I believe has important significance for Armenia too. But no issue of a corridor will be discussed, that’s a red line for us,” Grigoryan said.
Grigoryan told reporters that the railway can be a very obvious effective infrastructure solution for the region.
“We want solutions that would strengthen and enhance Armenia’s role in the region as a logistic hub. At this moment the railway option seems to be the most likely one. If we look at the railway infrastructures in the region, it is clear that by restoring individual sections we would get a serious logistic solution on a regional level. By very preliminary calculations the restoration could take approximately two to three years,” Grigoryan said.
Grigoryan added that he plans to participate in the scheduled meeting on unblocking with his Russian and Azerbaijani counterparts this week.
