“We have nothing against Russia; however, it would be good if the management of the South Caucasus Railway were taken over by a country that is friendly to both Armenia and Russia,” Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said today, February 13, in a conversation with journalists.

“Russia has stated that it will not create obstacles to our regional projects, and I discussed this with the President of the Russian Federation — he supports all these projects. The problem is that in a number of countries an increasingly dominant view is emerging that after Nakhichevan the route should not continue through Armenia, since the railway is under Russian management. Supporters of this position say that Armenia should be bypassed, and in fact we are now losing ground. We have nothing against Russia, but it would be good if the management of the South Caucasus Railway were taken over by a country friendly to both us and Russia — this is an option that should be discussed,” he said.