Armenia`s premier on integration of Crossroads of Peace into Middle  Corridor 

ArmInfo. It is important to note that the ninth point of the trilateral statement of November 9,  2020 is the last of the points, but all this does not detract from the opening of the "Crossroads of Peace" and regional communications from tomorrow. This was stated by Armenian Prime Minister Nikol  Pashinyan at the forum "Crossroads of Peace: combining  security and democracy" in Yerevan on October 12. 

He explained that the communications can be unblocked even tomorrow,  since there is the necessary infrastructure to do this. "Yes, such an  opportunity exists, because we have highways in these areas that we  can, for example, if we start work from tomorrow, then, depending on  the season, we can completely restore them to the border of  Azerbaijan. We have repeatedly and officially made this proposal,"  the Armenian Prime Minister said. At the same time, he noted that,  according to the trilateral statement of November 9, 2020,  representatives of the Russian Federation may be assigned certain  monitoring functions to see to what extent Armenia is fulfilling its  obligations. "Control of transport communications is carried out by  the border service of the FSB of Russia," Pashinyan quoted the 9th  point of the trilateral statement.

He then reported that this point was recently touched upon during  discussions at one of the platforms, and he wondered what this  wording meant. "This is specified in the decree of the President of  the Russian Federation of December 10, 2020, which concerns our  region. This means that representatives of the Russian Federation may  be assigned some monitoring functions to see to what extent the  Republic of Armenia fulfills its obligations," Pashinyan emphasized,  "thus, in fact, stating that on November 9, 2020, he signed the  document, either without reading the text carefully, or without  understanding what he was signing." "Moreover, none of the points of  the statement imply that any of Armenia's sovereign rights are  limited in any way. That is, there is no wording that would say that  the Republic of Armenia will establish any other jurisdiction over at  least 1 square meter of its territory," Pashinyan added. According to  him, there are a number of problematic points in the statement, since  it is impossible to single out only one point and ignore the fact  that many other points have not been implemented, in particular, the  issue of the Lachin corridor, the return of prisoners and other  detained persons, etc.

At the same time, he said that he personally handed over brochures of  the "Crossroads of Peace" project to the presidents of Turkey, Iran,  Azerbaijan, the Prime Minister of Georgia and the President of the  Russian Federation, moreover, envelopes with the project were sent by  them to dozens of partner countries.

"In fact, the international community is fully informed about our  project and readiness. I would like to emphasize once again that  Armenia is ready to begin practical work on the construction of  railways, highways from West to East and from East to West  (apparently meaning from North to South - ed.)", - Pashinyan said.

"During the discussions of the special representatives of Armenia and  Azerbaijan, there is also such an idea to assess the state of the  railway infrastructure and understand the amount of investment needed  to bring it to a fully functional state", - the Armenian Prime  Minister added.

In this context, he also stressed that although the emphasis was on  roads and railways, it should not be forgotten that they are ready to  ensure the functioning of gas pipelines, oil pipelines and power  lines, as well as Internet cables and other possible communications.

The head of the Armenian government also touched on the Iranian  factor and assured that they could in no way have a negative attitude  towards the development of routes through the territory of the  Islamic Republic of Iran. "Firstly, Iran is a friendly and  neighboring country for us. Secondly, this is a matter of sovereign  relations between the two countries, and Armenia cannot have any  comments or opinions here.  All that remains is to wish success in  the further development of transport infrastructure. It is very  important to know what considerations other countries have regarding  this project," he added.

In this vein, he again touched on Russia's position, and added that  it is quite obvious that transit routes are of great economic and  political importance for the Russian side, including foreign policy.  "It may be acceptable for Russia to allow all these flows to pass  through this territory if it continues to exert some influence on the  management of these flows, to what extent, this is not fundamental.

What do some of our Western friends and colleagues want? In my  opinion, it is clear to them that this path does not give grounds for  optimism, at least for now, and this is problematic for them.  Moreover, they do not want the flows to pass through the territory of  Iran, due to a number of circumstances in the relations.  This is  also a factor that should be kept in mind.

And what does Iran want? Iran is one of the few countries that  clearly supports the Crossroads of Peace project, - added Nikol  Pashinyan.

He further emphasized that if this project is implemented, huge flows  will go through the region, and it will take time to put everything  on the right track.

"Here, of course, the positions of Turkey and Georgia are important.  Georgia is also a supporter of the "Crossroads of Peace" project. And  Turkey's position can be harmonized with Armenia's position. In  essence, this project can be really integrated into the Middle  Corridor, which is one of the most important topics of Turkey's  foreign policy, and in essence, this is a very natural integration.  In other words, I mean that we did not create the project with the  idea that it should be integrated with the Middle Corridor project,  but it simply integrates with it naturally. It can also be integrated  with China's "One Belt, One Road" project," the Armenian Prime  Minister concluded.