Pashinyan says Azerbaijan shut off Putin’s regional unblocking proposals

PanARMENIAN.Net - Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has revealed that Russian President Vladimir Putin arrived in Yerevan for the CSTO summit in November and brought with him “specific proposals” concerning the unblocking of regional infrastructure but said proposals were never implemented due to Azerbaijan’s “unconstructive and counterproductive position”.

“We agreed on aspects of those options for opening up regional infrastructure, but unfortunately, these agreements could not be implemented later due to the unconstructive and counterproductive position of the Republic of Azerbaijan,” Pashinyan told Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin on Thursday, February 2.

During the CSTO Yerevan summit, Pashinyan said, it seemed to the Armenian side that partners within the organization had reached concrete agreements regarding the opening of regional economic and transport infrastructures.

“You know that we are not only ready, but are also interested in the opening of transport and economic infrastructures, because in fact the Republic of Armenia has been under Azerbaijani blockade for the last 30 years and we are of course very interested in opening all transport and economic infrastructures in the region,” he said.

“We believe that this should happen in accordance with the legislation of the Republic of Armenia. I mean point 9 of the trilateral declaration of November 9, 2020, which we made more concrete in the trilateral statement of January 11, 2021. We have repeatedly said that in the implementation of point 9 of the trilateral declaration, we must act in accordance with the legislation of the countries through the territories of which those infrastructures pass.”

Azerbaijan and Turkey have on multiple occasions raised the question about the Zangezur "corridor" through the southern Armenian province of Syunik that would connect Nakhijevan to the rest of Azerbaijan. The Armenian side, however, has repeatedly denied being involved in negotiations for the provision of a corridor to Azerbaijan, stressing that they have only agreed to unblock transport communications in the region.