Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan on Thursday continued to challenge Russia, three days after he initiated a telephone conversation with President Vladimir Putin of Russia. Per an agreement signed in 2008, Russian Railways took over the management of the Armenian Railways for 30 years. A wholly Russian-owned subsidiary, the South Caucasus Railways, was created at the time to manage Armenian Railways. Pashinyan also threatened to charge Russian Railways as much as $2 billion annually for its control of the Armenian railway. The Russian Railways chairman, Oleg Belozerov, was quick to respond, saying he was “surprised and bewildered” by the threat.