Abkhazia wants involvement in Russian-Armenian railway project

PanARMENIAN.Net - Abkhaz lawmakers have written to the Russian State Duma offering to connect Russia and Armenia by rail through Abkhazia, local media reported on February 9, according to Civil Georgia.

Sokhumi seeks to build on an agreement reached by Russian President Vladimir Putin, with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, and Armenian PM Nikol Pashinyan in early January to restore rail and road transport links between the three countries. The talks centered on opening the connection through eastern Azerbaijan, allowing Armenia to launch direct trains to Russia for the first time since the early 1990s.

Armenia’s current railway link to its strategic partner, Russia, runs through Georgia. The 200-km Abkhaz section has been defunct since 1993 when the conflict in Abkhazia severed the railway connection.

The media said Abkhaz legislature’s international affairs committee held a hearing over the issue on February 4 and cited the head of the committee Astamur Logua, saying that “Abkhazia must be unblocked.”

Logua expressed hopes that “we will achieve Abkhazia participating in the project on equal terms,” adding that the 21st century is the “time for ending the policy of isolation, acknowledging modern realities and building normal relations.”