Armenian ruling party MP says leasing Azerbaijan-Nakhchivan road to U.S. company unacceptable

YEREVAN. July 25 (Interfax) - An option that includes leasing the transport corridor that will link Azerbaijan and Nakhchivan to a U.S. company is unacceptable to Yerevan, an MP from Armenia's Civil Contract ruling party, Arman Yeghoyan, said.

"The Americans' idea was to lease this road, but it is unacceptable to us. We noticed the danger of compromising our sovereignty, we saw the danger not in the fulfillment of the function but in the lease itself. This option is unacceptable to us," Yeghoyan said in an interview with Armenian media.

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said at a press conference on July 16 that a U.S. company could become a managing operator of a transport route in southern Armenia.

"This option is currently the most discussible one. Active and intensive discussions are ongoing. Armenian border guards will also be posted on the border," Pashinyan said

U.S. Ambassador to Turkey Thomas Barrack said at a press briefing earlier that the United States is ready to operate a transport corridor in southern Armenia to link mainland Azerbaijan and Nakhchivan near the Iranian border in an attempt to move forward negotiations between Baku and Yerevan.

Russian presidential press secretary Dmitry Peskov, for his part, said on July 24 that control over the Zangezur corridor is a sovereign issue of Armenia and Azerbaijan, while Russia strongly supports the negotiations between Yerevan and Baku.

"This is an internal matter for Armenia and Azerbaijan. We support the negotiations between Armenia and Azerbaijan in every possible way, and we call on Baku and Yerevan to sign an agreement as soon as possible, while maintaining our readiness to provide any assistance and support if needed," Peskov told journalists, commenting on the report about the possible transfer of the Zangezur corridor to U.S. control.