Azerbaijan agrees to Armenia’s proposal to hold meeting of deputy prime ministers on delimitation of border -Mher Grigoryan
YEREVAN, June 21. /ARKA/. Azerbaijan has agreed to Armenia’s proposal to hold a meeting of deputy prime ministers on delimitation of the state border, Armenian Deputy Prime Minister Mher Grigoryan said today.
The Armenian proposal was sent June 17 to Azerbaijani Deputy Prime Minister Shahin Mustafayev.
"There is no agreement yet on the venue and date of the meeting, but I assume that there will be answers to these questions soon," Grigoryan told reporters on Wednesday.
According to him, there is an important consensus between Armenia and Azerbaijan that the unblocking of transport communications in the region should begin with the restart of the Yeraskh-Julfa-Meghri-Horadiz railroad.
"I believe that there is a final perception that the roads must be under the sovereignty and jurisdiction of those countries through whose territory they pass - this is also a very important and fundamental agreement," he told reporters.
Grigoryan said also that in his opinion Azerbaijan accepts these approaches, as the Armenian side has repeatedly stated that otherwise it will not negotiate.
As for whether the control of the traffic through the road should be given to the border troops of Russian Federal Security Service, Grigoryan said that discussions on their functions are necessary.
According to earlier reports, deputy prime ministers of Armenia, Russia and Azerbaijan reached an understanding on the steps to restore the Yeraskh-Julfa-Meghri-Horadiz railway connection during the 12th trilateral working group’s meeting in Moscow on June 2.
According to the estimates of the Armenian Ministry of Economy, the construction of Yeraskh-Julfa-Ordubad-Meghri-Horadiz railroad may cost $1.2 billion. The construction of the 43-km long railway section through Armenian Meghri may require about $200 million.
If this plan succeeds, Armenia will get access to Iran and Russia through this railroad, and Azerbaijan will get a railway connection with Nakhichevan through Armenia.
Yeraskh is a settlement in Armenia's Ararat region bordering Nakhichevan; Meghri is a town in Syunik (south of Armenia, bordering Iran and Azerbaijan). Sadarak, Julfa, Ordubad and Horadiz are towns in Azerbaijan.
On January 17, 2022 the government of Armenian PM Nikol Pashinyan appointed a ten-member working group to handle the reconstruction of the railway tracks connecting Yeraskh (Ararat province of Armenia) and the northwestern tip of Azerbaijan’s Nakhchivan exclave. The 10-member working group was led by Artashes Tumanyan, a former ambassador to Iran. Tumanyan was to report on the progress of the work to the Prime Minister every three months.-0-
