On October 26, Alexey Overchuk, the Deputy Prime Minister of Russia, stated that Russian Railways (RZD) and its regional partners is working to organize the transit of Russian goods to Armenia through Azerbaijan. Speaking to reporters, Overchuk noted that Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev had previously announced the lifting of restrictions on cargo transit to Armenia via Azerbaijani territory. "The Azerbaijani side confirmed to us the possibility of using Azerbaijani railways to transit Russian products through Azerbaijan to Armenia. In other words, we have made some very interesting progress in this regard," he said. Overchuk added that Russian Railways, together with its regional counterparts, was actively coordinating these shipments and that instructions had been issued to the Ministry of Agriculture to develop the new logistics route.