AZE.US
Russian border guards are becoming a key obstacle for the TRIPP route and broader plans to reopen regional transport links through southern Armenia, Armenian political analyst Boris Navasardyan said.
Navasardyan, honorary president of the Yerevan Press Club and a member of the “Bridge of Peace” initiative, made the remarks in an interview with the YouTube channel “Modern Conversation with Rasim Babayev.”
According to him, the United States is effectively becoming a third participant in efforts to restore railway communication through southern Armenia. The route is expected to connect Azerbaijan with its Nakhchivan exclave and support the wider reopening of transport links in the South Caucasus.
However, Navasardyan said the presence of Russian border guards has now become a serious political and practical issue.
“In recent weeks, we have seen cases where Russian border guards tried to control the situation in areas directly adjacent to the potential TRIPP route,” he said. He added that this makes the issue of Russian border guard presence increasingly relevant and likely to become a subject of talks between Armenia and Russia.
Navasardyan said the full functioning of TRIPP would be difficult without resolving this question. In his view, the same problem may also affect the possible restoration of the Gyumri-Kars railway, which connected Armenia and Turkey during the Soviet period but has been closed since the early 1990s.
The analyst noted that crossing the Armenian-Turkish border would also involve questions about the role of Russian border guards, which could create obstacles for normal cargo and passenger movement.
Navasardyan said the broader issue is the status of Russian border troops in Armenia. He pointed to several recent changes, including the removal of Russian border guards from passport control functions at Yerevan’s Zvartnots airport and similar changes at checkpoints on Armenia’s border with Iran.
He also said Russian border guards did not play a role when temporary crossings on the Armenian-Turkish border were opened for humanitarian cargo, including recent shipments from Armenia to Syria.
According to Navasardyan, all functioning checkpoints have already been freed from the presence of Russian border guards, but the issue remains unresolved along sections of the border and transport corridors themselves.
The comments come as Baku and Yerevan discuss next steps after Armenia’s parliamentary elections. Navasardyan said the meeting between Azerbaijani presidential aide Hikmet Hajiyev and Armenian Security Council Secretary Armen Grigoryan in Dilijan was a logical continuation of the normalization process after the vote.
He said communications, border delimitation, trade links and the possible establishment of diplomatic relations are among the key areas where Armenia, Azerbaijan and Turkey may see further movement.
AZE.US