“I declared after the Brussels meeting that we have reached an agreement with the President of Azerbaijan to launch the construction of the Yeraskh-Julfa-Ordubad-Meghri-Horadiz railway, and a working group has already been set up for that purpose,” he said.

PM Pashinyan noted that the construction of the sections passing through Armenia is estimated to cost $200 million and $5 million, noting that “it’s not a very heavy burden for the Republic of Armenia, especially considering that a number of international donors are showing great interest.”

It is quite possible that there will be no need to invest funds from the state budget of Armenia, because we still need to find out what the South Caucasus Railways, the Russian Railways think about it, the Prime Minister said.

“There are also European companies that are interested and are ready to make an investment and exploit the railway,” he added.

He noted that the preparation work for the constriction of that railway has practically started.

“If it manages to open the communications in the region, including the Armenia-Turkey border, Armenia will get a railway connection with Russia, Europe, Iran, China with all ensuing economic consequences,” Nikol Pashinyan said.

“This is what we mean by saying a peace agenda,” he added.

“When speaking about the opening of communications, we concentrate on the link between Azerbaijan and the Autonomous Republic of Nakhijevan. While it is a sensitive issue, it’s not the most important one. At the end of the day, it’s about huge transit flows for Armenia and Azerbaijan,” the Armenian PM noted.

He stressed that the opening of communications will draw huge transit flows from the Persian Gulf to the Black Sea, from Europe, Turkey and the Middle East to Russia, which will, in turn, ensure huge income for Armenia and Azerbaijan.