US welcomes Abkhaz railway plan: What did Heffern and MPs talk about?

In an interview with Aysor.am, Samvel Nikoyan, an Armenian parliamentary deputy from Republican Party of Armenia, presented some details of the closed meeting of U.S. Ambassador to Armenia John Heffern and members of the parliamentary standing committee on foreign relations.
We would remind you that following a two-hour meeting with the committee members today, the U.S. diplomat declined to give details. 

“Ambassador Heffern stated the U.S. welcomes the creation of any communication opportunities of this kind for Armenia. He said he welcomes the existence of any communication routes of benefit to Armenia,” Samvel Nikoyan said when asked whether the U.S. ambassador touched on Russian President Vladimir Putin’s statement about re-launching the Abkahzian railway.

Asked if today’s meeting was related to the agreement on Armenia’s entry into the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU) that has been discussed recently in the Armenian parliament’s standing committees and will be introduced on Monday for the four-day session of the National Assembly, Nikoyan said the meeting was not dedicated to Armenia’s entry into EEU, although it is evident that the issue was discussed.

“John Heffern answered questions about domestic and foreign policy, as well as the questions about the economic situation and Armenian-Azerbaijani relations. He presented the United States’ position on regional developments and other problems,” Nikoyan said.

As regards the EEU, the U.S. ambassador said he respects the Armenian people’s decision, according to S. Nikoyan.

The interlocutor of Aysor.am said that it was one of those regular meetings that the standing committee on foreign relations organizes, inviting ambassadors of various countries. This time a meeting with U.S. ambassador took place.

By the way, Samvel Nikoyan is not a member of the standing committee on foreign relations. Aysor.am reported earlier that the U.S. Ambassador Heffern met only with members of that committee.

As was reported, Russian President Putin said recently that by common consent, Russia and Abkhazia may organize Sukhumi-Tbilisi-Yerevan railway communication. The Russian president’s statement caused a mixed reaction of pro-Western forces, while Georgian Foreign Minister Tamara Beruchashvili said that the Georgian authorities are not conducting any talks with Russia about railway’s re-launching through Abkhazia. “I would like to stress once again that any infrastructure project or a project of a different kind will be examined only if it stems from Georgia’s interests,” she declared.