Russian, Azerbaijani PMs discuss prospects for rail infrastructure development in South Caucasus
MOSCOW. Nov 18 (Interfax) - The prime ministers of Russia and Azerbaijan, Mikhail Mishustin and Ali Asadov, had a phone conversation on Wednesday to discuss their views on the prospects for rail infrastructure development in the wake of decisions on the normalization of transport services in the South Caucasus, the Russian government press service said.
Mishustin and Asadov discussed the schedule of bilateral contacts between the two countries' governments and the current agenda of trade and economic cooperation between Russia and Azerbaijan, the press service said in a statement on Wednesday.
Mishustin and Asadov paid attention to the implementation of joint projects in the production sector, the agricultural machine industry, the pharmaceuticals industry, and other areas, it said.
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Russian President Vladimir Putin declared a complete ceasefire in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict zone in their joint statement published on November 10.
The statement stipulates, in particular, that "all economic and transport connections in the region shall be unblocked." "The Republic of Armenia shall guarantee the security of transport connections between the western regions of the Republic of Azerbaijan and the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic in order to arrange unobstructed movement of persons, vehicles and cargo in both directions. The Border Guard Service of the Russian Federal Security Service shall be responsible for overseeing the transport connections," Putin, Aliyev and Pashinyan said in their joint statement.
"As agreed by the Parties, new transport links shall be built to connect the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic and the western regions of Azerbaijan," the statement says.