Russia’s deputy PM to meet Azerbaijani officials next week

Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexey Overchuk told reporters that he will discuss the unblocking of transport communications in the South Caucasus with Azerbaijani representatives next week, TASS reports.

“I have a meeting with the Azerbaijani side at the end of next week. We will also discuss these issues there. So, progress is being made,” Overchuk said. The meeting will take place in Russia.

He noted that a trilateral working group at the deputy prime minister level, including Azerbaijan, Armenia, and Russia, is currently operating to implement the ninth point of the trilateral leaders’ declaration. The group has discussed all the details of the unblocking process in depth.

“We are interested in how far the parties have progressed in resolving the issues discussed within the trilateral working group. Some nuances affect Russia’s interests in the South Caucasus, primarily in terms of developing railway communications,” Overchuk stated.

He added that after resolving the issues, it will be necessary to move them to the level of calculations, technical and economic justifications, assess the projects’ economics, and implement the unblocking.

“However, this requires trilateral efforts within the framework of cooperation we have had and continue to have with Armenia and Azerbaijan,” the deputy prime minister concluded.