BAKU. April 5 (Interfax) - NATO has been using the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars (BTK) railway corridor to deliver cargo to Afghanistan as part of the alliance's Resolute Support Mission in this country, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said.
NATO countries have been using the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway, which was put into operation in 2017, to ship cargo to and from Afghanistan, the press service of Azerbaijan's Foreign Ministry quoted Stoltenberg as saying at a meeting of the NATO states' foreign ministers on the occasion of the 70th anniversary of the founding of the alliance.
This railway makes a significant contribution to the success of NATO's Resolute Support Mission in Afghanistan, he said.
Azerbaijan is NATO's close partner and closely cooperates with the alliance as part of efforts to promote peace and security worldwide, he said.
Azerbaijan has been making an important contribution with its military personnel and multimodal transit to Resolute Support Mission, Stoltenberg said.
The Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railroad was commissioned on October 30, 2017. At the initial stage of operation, it was set to transport five million tonnes of cargo a year, with a subsequent increase to between 15 million and 17 million tonnes annually.