By Shoghik Galstian
YEREVAN (Azatutyun) — The United States and Armenia have yet to work out practical modalities of a US-administered transit corridor that would connect Azerbaijan to its Nakhichevan exclave through a strategic Armenian region, Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan said on Tuesday, October 14.
Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan pledged to give the US exclusive rights to the corridor during talks with US President Donald Trump and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev held at the White House on August 8. Key details of what will be called the Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity (TRIPP) remain unknown.
A joint declaration by Trump, Aliyev and Pashinyan says only that Armenia will ensure “unhindered communication” between Nakhichevan and the rest of Azerbaijan through its Syunik province. A separate memorandum of understanding signed by Pashinyan and Trump does not explicitly mention the TRIPP.
Visiting Armenia later in August, a senior US State Department official said Washington is planning to allocate $145 million for its creation. In a related development, a team of US customs and immigration officials held talks with their Armenian colleagues in Yerevan last week.
Mirzoyan insisted that Yerevan and Washington have not yet reached agreements on crucial details of the transit arrangement denounced by the Armenian opposition.
