Harming Russia’s interests will not be on our agenda; no one will be able to drag us into the logic of acting against Russia, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan announced on Public Television.
The Prime Minister answered the question of what alternative solution we have if, for example, Russia refuses to repair the railway.
“First, of course, we have appealed to our Russian partners, and in political terms, it seems that we have a positive response. But there is a very important practical problem here. Look, what problem do we have with the same regional communications? The railway will enter Meghri from Zangelan, from Meghri it will enter Nakhchivan, that is, Ordubad, etc. In the international context, it is very important how this railway will continue.
Now there are two competing options. You know that Turkey and Azerbaijan have announced a project to build a new railway from Kars to Diliju, that is, from Kars to Nakhchivan. And, naturally, we expect the international route to operate along the Yeraskh-Akhurik road, where there is an operating railway, because in the Yeraskh section, there are only a few kilometers of missing railway tracks, and in Akhurik, it is shorter; it is already at the Turkish border. And now we need to focus on our competitive advantages. Here we see that, in the international context, the fact that this section of the railway is under Russian control is used to present the Kars-Diliju route more favorably, which is a problem for us because it means we lose our competitive advantage if we have a ready-made railway… Of course, to bring this railway into line with modern requirements, an additional investment of several hundred million dollars will be required. Restoring only small, missing sections is not a particularly big problem, neither financially nor technically, but we must definitely ensure the railway’s speed.
Now, look, we have great respect and love for our Russian partners, but the fact is that due to the tense international context, because our railway, which is our property, this is very important, is under the management of Russian Railways, we feel that we are losing our competitive advantage here. And here we need to think about what to do, because this is not a matter of one, two, three, or four years.
We need to find a solution, and we need to find that solution in a friendly, fraternal logic. First of all, today we unfortunately see information circulating widely that this is presented as a Russian route, but, from scratch, you can imagine that several billion dollars are being invested to build the Kars-Diliju railway. And, to be honest, I asked this question directly to our partners, both to the President of Turkey and to the President of Azerbaijan, not in such detail. I have said that we are going towards a settlement, we are going towards peace, that is, we are already in a state of peace. That railway passes through Armenia. Why are you spending several billion dollars to create something that already exists? Of course, they have responded to that question with diplomatic silence. Still, now, amid widespread discussion, the international press, and analyses by the international expert community, we understand that this is the main problem. We must understand what solutions we have, because I say again that this is about Armenia’s long-term strategic interests. All our friendly countries should be interested in serving our interests, not the other way around, so that our interests do not find themselves in a deadlock.
I want to share with you and the public our strategic understanding of our relations with Russia. We share the following idea everywhere, with all our partners, that harming Russia, Russia’s interests has not been, is not, and will not be on our agenda. That is excluded. No one will be able to, even if they try; there have been no attempts so far, but no one will be able to involve us in the logic of acting against Russia. And we also tell our Russian partners: you know, we will not fight with you, we will not argue with you, we will not enter into a dispute or a war of words with you, because we value the relations we have.
Yes, the interstate, but the personal level is equally important in this context. I have very warm and direct relations with the President of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Putin, and with the Prime Minister of the Russian Federation, Mikhail Mishustin. This is our strategy: we will not act against Russia, but we will always act in the best interests of the Republic of Armenia. And we ask our Russian partners: Do you have any criticism of this logic? We say we will never act against Russia, but we will always act in accordance with the interests of the Republic of Armenia, and this will be our strategy. Here, we understand that there may be certain intersections. Still, we cannot say, you know, we are acting contrary to the interests of Armenia, and for the sake of not only Russia but any other country; that would be illogical. No country would act like this. Yes, certain problems and intersections may arise as well. Still, I want to give you the example of August 8, because after that, certain questions arose among our partners from the Russian Federation, and I answered them with pleasure. With pleasure in the sense that we are always open to dialogue.
I drew our Russian partners’ attention to a simple fact. On August 8, 2025, we signed in Washington the content that we had previously, over the course of five years, a little over five, offered to the Russian Federation. Of course, there was no Trump path there, but we wanted five words, just five words. Those words were: territorial integrity, sovereignty, jurisdiction, reciprocity, and inviolability of borders. We said, put these five words on paper, and I am ready to sign that paper at any time. And there is no exaggeration in what I said. And this is a very specific example that we have never acted against Russia and will not act. But we, of course, excuse me, cannot act against Armenia, and we must always act in accordance with the interests of Armenia. And we will not fight with Russia; there is no need to. It is clear, you know, that there are always tensions and discussions on the agenda. We will always discuss, but we will not fight with Russia, we will not create problems with Russia, but we will pursue our interests,” he said.
