
ArmInfo. By signing the Washington documents on August 8, Armenia and Azerbaijan confirmed that peace has become a reality between the two countries, as stated by RA Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan in an interview with Public TV of Armenia.
According to him, essentially, the parties declared their intention to follow the path of peace with the declaration. "Of course, there will be other processes and actions follow the signing of a peace treaty and its ratification, but it is clear that all these actions will no longer hold the same significance and weight as the documents signed on August 8," the RA Foreign Minister said. He noted that in addition to the declaration itself, the parties agreed to build a corridor that will connect Azerbaijan with Nakhichevan, which will also be used by the Republic of Armenia. The road through Armenia's territory will be controlled by the Armenian side. The Americans will not control the section of the route through the territory of Armenia within the TRIPP project ("Trump Route"). "A third party will not have control over this section, these are the functions of the Republic of Armenia. This issue is not disputed, and there were no other agreements regarding this," Mirzoyan said, adding that talks about transferring a section of the territory through which the route will run for 99 years "have no relation to reality yet."
"I would like to emphasize once again: there are agreements on what has been written and published. The deadlines, any technical details must still be discussed," the Minister said. He also emphasized that, in addition to the economic benefits, the construction of infrastructure through the territory of Armenia within the framework of the project is an additional guarantee for the country in terms of security. "In the modern world, this is the number one security guarantee," he said, expressing the opinion that these guarantees will be more significant than military guarantees. The Foreign Minister also noted that a road, a railway, an oil pipeline and a gas pipeline could be built along the route through Armenia. The terms of their construction will be discussed further. Regarding whether the unblocking will take place simultaneously on the territory of the two countries, the Minister stated that the infrastructure on the territory of Azerbaijan is basically ready for this. In the case of Armenia, the railway in the south of the country must be built from scratch.
In response to the question of whether Armenian customs officers will check Azerbaijani citizens traveling through Armenia, Mirzoyan stated that both parties will mutually gain access to each other's infrastructure. This means that the Azerbaijani side will have unimpeded communication with Nakhichevan through the territory of Armenia providing mutual benefits for both sides in international and domestic transport movement. He also noted that before the unblocking can occur, the border must be delimited and customs checkpoints need to be constructed. Mirzoyan emphasized that the agreements on mutual unblocking of communications are comprehensive, and failure to implement any one component can jeopardize the entire agreement.