Pashinyan asks Russia to restore railways linking Armenia to Azerbaijan, Türkiye

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has asked the Russian side to restore two key railway sections — Yeraskh–Nakhchivan border and Akhurik–Türkiye border, according to Armenian media cited by Caliber.Az.

Speaking at a briefing, Pashinyan said that Armenia also plans to ask Russia in the near future to restore the Armenian section of the Ijevan–Gazakh railway line. He additionally instructed officials to assess the condition of railway stations located along Armenia’s borders with Azerbaijan and Türkiye.

For the record, the 2020 Second Karabakh War, won decisively by Azerbaijan, and the 2023 Azerbaijani anti-terror operation that fully restored the country's sovereignty, shifted regional dynamics toward normalisation talks, with transport unblocking emerging as a core issue.

A pivotal breakthrough came at the Washington Summit on August 8, 2025, where Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, and U.S. President Donald Trump signed a Joint Declaration establishing unimpeded connectivity. This U.S.-brokered peace accord initiated a full normalisation treaty and launched the "Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity" (TRIPP), a strategic corridor through Syunik (Zangezur-ed.) under Armenian sovereignty but with exclusive U.S. development rights for infrastructure, security, and customs. TRIPP enabled Azerbaijan's direct link to Nakhchivan and onward to Türkiye.

Türkiye closed its 311 km land border with Armenia in 1993, in solidarity with Azerbaijan during the First Karabakh War, following Armenian occupation of Azerbaijani lands. This action isolated landlocked Armenia economically, severing direct trade and transit routes, including the historic Kars-Gyumri (Akhurik-Akyaka) railway, which had operated sporadically in Soviet times. Türkiye's preconditions for reopening the border are tied to the final Armenia-Azerbaijan peace.

By Khagan Isayev