For Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, it is important that Russia be involved in the restoration of railway sections from Armenia to the borders of Azerbaijan and Turkey, which will then join the "Trump Route," so that in case of criticism, arrows are directed against Russia, believes Konstantin Zatulin, First Deputy Chairman of the Committee for CIS Affairs, Eurasian Integration and Relations with Compatriots of the Russian State Duma.

Armenia has appealed to Russia on the matter of restoring railway sections from Armenia to the borders of Azerbaijan and Turkey. This was announced by Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan on Thursday. According to him, he has already discussed this matter with Russian President Vladimir Putin, as well as at the level of the governments of the two countries.

As per Zatulin, as quoted by НСН, the partially published agreements between the US and Armenia show that 76 percent of the company that will receive profits from transit through this corridor will belong to the US, and 24 percent to Armenia.

“No one else can participate in this. Russia can be involved in some functions, but it cannot be among the founders or shareholders of this company. After that, Pashinyan wanted to make some kind of gesture to deflect criticism that he is ignoring Russia’s interests,” the Russian MP said.

Zatulin argued that Armenia wants to “point the arrows” against Russia, and it is not interested in Moscow’s interests.

“We are talking about the territories adjacent to Azerbaijan and Turkey. Pashinyan wants to pull Russia into this work, so that later he can claim everywhere that Russia is involved. Putting it bluntly, he wants to direct the arrows against Russia. This is approximately the same as what happened with our peacekeeping contingent, which was initially invited to [Nagorno-]Karabakh, but then its presence was practically ignored. We [i.e. Russia] simply need to understand that Pashinyan is not acting in our interests, he is betting on an alliance and friendship with the West. His proposals must be analyzed repeatedly to make sure that there is no hidden agenda,” the Russian lawmaker said.