He also downplayed Yerevan’s tensions with Moscow which have risen further in recent months.
The chief executive of the Russian Railways (RZhD) monopolu, Oleg Belozerov, indicated a change of Pashinian’s position on the issue after meeting with him in Yerevan on Wednesday. Belozerov said they did not discuss terminating the Armenian government’s 30-year management contract signed with RZhD in 2008.
“In my opening remarks [at the meeting with Belozerov,] I stated that we have no problem with the Russian concession [over the network,]” Pashinian told reporters. “Rather, our concern is that our railway must be competitive. Our analyses aimed at achieving this goal indicate that a rational approach would be to alter the concession management framework -- specifically, by delegating it to third countries.”
“However, if our Russian partners say they know how to resolve this issue, they can propose solutions,” he said. “As a result of yesterday’s discussion, I said: ‘Very well, let us form a working group that will provide, within a three-month timeframe, answers as to how Armenia’s railways can become competitive.’”
Pashinian said in February that the Armenian railways should be run by another, non-Russian company because their current status discourages Turkey and Azerbaijan from using a much larger section of Armenian territory for transit purposes. Moscow has repeatedly rejected Pashinian’s demands since then. The Russian Foreign Ministry claimed in August that they are part of the West’s efforts to drive Russia out of the South Caucasus.
“Our expectation now is that Russia, with our consent, sells the concession rights to a third party,” Pashinian insisted on September 19.
Russia's President Vladimir Putin and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian meet on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit in Bishkek, September 1, 2026.
Russian-Armenian relations have deteriorated further in recent months, with Moscow pressuring Yerevan to quickly choose between seeking to join the European Union and remaining part of a Russian-led economic union. Pashinian and Russian President Vladimir Putin are expected to hold crunch talks on the issue later this year.
Moscow has threatened to sharply raise the price of Russian natural gas supplied to Armenia and impose other economic sanctions if Pashinian’s government continues to reorient the South Caucasus country towards the West. It already banned imports of Armenian agricultural products in May and June.
In what some observers view as an attempt to placate the Kremlin, Pashinian indicated on October 1 his readiness to accept a Russian proposal to build a new nuclear plant in Armenia. He said Yerevan is no longer interested in the kind of nuclear energy technology that has been offered to it by the United States. Pashinian’s apparent U-turn on the railway issue will be seen as another concession to the Russians.
The Armenian premier claimed on Thursday that Russian-Armenian relations have been and will remain “good.”
“Even if there are issues on the diplomatic or other agendas, it doesn’t mean we stop speaking to each other or take offense at one another,” he said.
The deputy chairman of Russia’s Security Council, Dmitry Medvedev, lambasted Pashinian’s pro-Western foreign policy and warned of Armenia’s “transformation into a new Ukraine” as recently as on October 3.