July 22, 2004 - 19:14 AMT
IN YEREVAN ARMENIAN AND GEORGIAN FOREIGN MINISTERS DISCUSSED DEVELOPMENT OF TRANSPORT COMMUNICATIONS
Questions of development of roads and transport corridors as one of the ways to progress in the South Caucasus were discussed by Armenian Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanian and his Georgian counterpart Salome Zurabishvili during her present stay in Yerevan. At that, as reported by the Press Service of the Foreign Ministry of Armenia, the parties noted that by means of equal development of communications both in East-West and North-South directions, the Caucasus can be turned into an actual crossroad. The Ministers exchanged views on full launching of all railways in the region, specifically Kars-Gyumri-Tbilisi and the Abkhazian segment of the Russia-Georgia-Armenia railway. The Armenian and Georgian Ministers of Foreign Affairs also discussed energy provision of the region, realization of programs with Iran. Apropos, as S. Zurabishvili stated in an interview with RFE/RL, the idea of possible transportation of Iranian gas to Georgia via the Iran-Armenia gas pipeline represents interest to Georgia, whose leadership wishes to make the region a transit one. As noted by Zurabishvili, the Georgian authorities are ready to consider the idea.