Pashinyan presents details of agreements with Aliyev as well as  prospects for successful dialogue with Ankara

ArmInfo.During the meeting in Brussels, the Prime Minister of Armenia and the President of Azerbaijan reaffirmed the agreement on the construction of the  Yeraskh-Julfa-Ordubad-Meghri-Horadiz railway. Prime Minister of the  Republic of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan announced this on December 16  before the beginning of a regular Cabinet meeting.

Thus, as the press service of the RA PM reports, before starting the  discussion of the agenda, the Prime Minister presented the agreements  reached during the trilateral meeting between the Prime Minister of  Armenia Nikol Pashinyan, the President of the European Council  Charles Michel and the President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev in  Brussels on December 15.

Below is the complete text of the Prime Minister's speech.

"Good morning, dear colleagues, we are starting the work of the  regular Cabinet meeting of December 16, 2021.

Before referring to the approval of the agenda, I want to say the  following. You are aware, I have informed that during the Brussels  meeting with the President of Azerbaijan we reaffirmed our decision  and agreement on the construction of the  Yeraskh-Julfa-Ordubad-Meghri-Horadiz railway. I would like to remind  you that this agreement was reached as a result of the discussions of  the Armenia-Azerbaijan-Russia trilateral working group on the opening  of regional communications, which were Co-chaired by the Deputy Prime  Ministers of the three countries. In fact, the agreement was recorded  on November 26 during the Sochi meeting mediated by Russian President  Vladimir Putin. And now, at the meeting in Brussels, mediated by the  President of the EU Council Charles Michel, in fact, all this was  recorded.

I want to emphasize that the railway will operate in accordance with  the internationally accepted border and customs rules, under the  principle of reciprocity and under the sovereignty and jurisdiction  of the respective countries. Armenia will get access to the Islamic  Republic of Iran and the Russian Federation via this railway.  Azerbaijan will get a railway connection with the Nakhchivan  Autonomous Republic.

I want to draw our attention to the following. If we manage to start  a certain and effective dialogue with Turkey, if we manage to achieve  the opening of the border and communications, this program can get a  much larger scale. That is, in fact, the railway we are talking about  exists from Yeraskh to Gyumri, you know that there is also a railway  from Gyumri to Kars. But I say all this because we have to start the  construction of the railway, of course, before starting the  construction there is a lot of work to be done, to design, to  announce tenders, to reach agreements. Of course, part of that work  has already been done, but now we have to solve this problem with  practical, everyday work. Of course, we will hold a consultation in a  narrower format in the coming days to further specify our ideas - the  timetable and the roadmap. And, of course, our intention and desire  is to have that railway as soon as possible.

I do not want to overestimate the significance of this agreement and  project, but on the other hand, I do not want to underestimate it.  This is an important agreement, which, of course, I hope we will  properly implemented, which will significantly change the economic,  investment, of course, also the political and security environment of  the region. And we must also focus on solving this problem in the  near future.  Of course, I also informed that an agreement has been  reached with the President of Azerbaijan that we will continue the  contacts, trying to form and formulate common views and approaches to  the issues on our agenda. That is, to reach agreements and overcome  the existing disagreements.  This is all for the introduction"