Working group agrees on restoration of railway communication with Nakhchivan in Moscow

The Azerbaijan-Armenia-Russia working group reached a mutual understanding to take concrete steps on restoring and organising the railway communication on the Arazdeyen-Julfa-Meghri-Horadiz route.

The 12th meeting of the trilateral working group chaired jointly by Azerbaijani Deputy Prime Minister Shahin Mustafayev, Armenian Deputy Prime Minister Mher Grigoryan and Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexey Overchuk in Moscow on June 2 in order to implement the agreements reached by the leaders of the three countries during the May 25, 2023 meeting in Moscow, Report informs.

The meeting was held in a constructive atmosphere. The parties noted with satisfaction the considerable progress in agreeing upon the modalities of unblocking transport communications between Azerbaijan and Armenia.

The parties agreed to continue their work within the Trilateral Working Group.

Azerbaijan seeks to reconnect the country’s exclave – the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic – with its mainland after the successful counter-offensive operations in the country’s Karabakh region. Surrounded by Armenia, Iran, and Türkiye, currently, Nakhchivan is not connected via direct overland routes with mainland Azerbaijan.

Nakhchivan became an exclave separated from the Azerbaijani mainland after the Soviet occupation of the South Caucasus region in 1920. Following the region’s incorporation, Soviet rulers inked a decision to transfer some of Azerbaijan's territories, including its historic region of Zangazur, which borders Nakhchivan, to the newly-created Armenian state.