President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko spoke about a telephone conversation with American leader Donald Trump about signing in Washington agreements between Azerbaijan and Armenia.
"I congratulated him... Armenia and Azerbaijan are still a big plus. I say, well done for finding opportunities, bringing everyone to the negotiating table and managing to reach an agreement with Armenians and Azerbaijanis on signing such an agreement. I know that this Zangezur corridor was extremely necessary to ensure communication with Azerbaijan. They took their stand and said: we will own and control all this. This is a great thing," Lukashenko said.
He noted that the project "Iranians don't really like it — especially on the border with Iran."
"But no one can resist it. These are peace agreements that will help build a corridor through Armenian territory. Now the two regions, Azerbaijan and its exclave, will be connected not only by air. He deserved it," the President of Belarus said.
As EADaily reported, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has already announced the launch of the Zangezur Corridor project. According to him, the Kars—Yigdyr railway with a length of 224 kilometers, which is the basis of this project, will be built as double-track and electrified.
"The line will carry 5.5 million passengers and 15 million tons of cargo per year. With the commissioning of the 2.4 billion euro project, the international trade line from China's investment in the UK will become more effective," Erdogan said.
On August 22, Turkey hosted the ceremony of laying the 224-kilometer railway, which will become part of the transport system of the Zangezur Corridor and will connect the city of Kars in the east of the republic with the Nakhichevan region of Azerbaijan. The project is planned for five years.
On August 8, in Washington, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and American leader Donald Trump signed a statement on unblocking transport communications. In particular, a transport corridor will be opened through the Syunik region of Armenia, which will connect the main part of Azerbaijan with Nakhichevan and will be called the "Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity." The route will be managed by a joint Armenian-American company. In Turkey, it is called the "Zangezur Corridor".