Russian Deputy PM Alexei Overchuk, in an interview with Rossiyskaya Gazeta today, said the process of unblocking transportation links in the South Caucasus is continuing despite tensions along the Armenia-Azerbaijan border.

Overchuk, who recently attended a Russian-Armenian business forum in Yerevan, ruled out the possibility of extraterritorial roadways in the area.

“The principle is sovereignty over the road is exercised by the country through whose territory the road passes. This means that if the road passes through Armenian territory, then this is an Armenian road, if along Azerbaijani territory, then it is Azerbaijani,” Overchuk said, referring to the negotiations being conducted by a working group established under the joint chairmanship of the deputy prime ministers of Azerbaijan, Armenia and Russia.

Overchuk said the unblocking of economic and transport links in the region “will be a decisive step towards the evolution of the South Caucasus from a hotbed of tension into a region of stability and economic prosperity.”

He said that the trade turnover between Russia and Armenia has almost doubled, from $1.35 to $2.6 billion, in the past five years due to Armenia's accession to the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) in 2015.

“We are interested in further developing mutual trade and investment. Russian business is ready to offer effective solutions for the development of transport, energy, social infrastructure, and the digital economy,” Overchuk said, noting that while in Yerevan he signed a three-year economic cooperation program with the Armenian government.

“Given the ongoing tension, Russian-Armenian trade and economic cooperation serves as a kind of fulcrum and a guarantor of maintaining stability in the region, as well as a basis for the further development of our countries,” Overchuk said.