A train carrying about 1,000 tons of Kazakh wheat arrived in Armenia on November 8 after passing through Azerbaijan. The delivery followed a historic transit of Russian wheat three days earlier, marking the first time in nearly 35 years that any commodity crossed Azerbaijani territory en route to Armenia.
Officials in Yerevan described the shipments as a milestone in regional transport and economic cooperation.
According to Kazakhstan’s Food Contract Corporation, the country could supply Armenia with 15,000–20,000 tons of grain per month. “This transit corridor could eventually become a regular route for delivering Kazakhstani grain and other goods to Yerevan,” the agency said, adding that Armenia is interested in establishing “stable supplies” and that negotiations are ongoing.
Armenian officials emphasized both the symbolic and practical importance of the shipment. Minister of Territorial Administration and Infrastructure Davit Khudatian said the first 1,000-ton batch reached Armenia after crossing Russian, Azerbaijani and Georgian territories. “This was possible in the context of the peace established between Armenia and Azerbaijan following the documents signed in Washington in August,” he said.
The resumption of transit follows Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev’s decision to lift a decades-long ban on cargo shipments to Armenia, which Armenian authorities described as a step toward “strengthening mutual trust and promoting the peace agenda.”
Pashinian’s office said the development is a “practical implementation” of the agreements reached during the Washington trilateral summit in August.
The summit, attended by Pashinian, Aliyev, and U.S. President Donald Trump, resulted in the initialing of a peace agreement between Yerevan and Baku and produced a declaration committing Armenia to ensuring “unimpeded connectivity” between mainland Azerbaijan and its Nakhichevan exclave, with “reciprocal benefits for international and intra-state connectivity” for Armenia.
Armenia and Azerbaijan stopped using each other’s territory for any kind of transit in the late 1980s and early 1990s amid the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, which led to two major wars.