WASHINGTON (Azatutyun) — The United States and Armenia released late on January 13 the first major details of a planned US-administered transit corridor for Azerbaijan which would pass through a key Armenian region.
A relevant US-Armenian agreement was made public following talks in Washington held by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan. It officially confirmed that Yerevan will give a special company controlled by the US government long-term exclusive rights to what will be called the Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity (TRIPP).
Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan agreed to the transit arrangement during his talks with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev hosted by US President Donald Trump at the White House last August. A joint declaration signed by the three leaders said that Armenia will ensure “unhindered communication” between the Nakhichevan exclave and the rest of Azerbaijan through its Syunik province.
According to the “implementation framework” for the TRIPP released after Rubio’s talks with Mirzoyan, a US-Armenian company will build a railway, a road, energy supply lines and other infrastructure along the transit corridor and manage and collect revenues from them for at least 49 years.
“Armenia intends to offer the United States a 74 percent share and to hold itself a 26 percent share in the TRIPP Development Company,” reads the 8-page document. “This arrangement is expected to be extended for an additional term of 50 years with a grant of additional equity to the government of Armenia bringing its share to 49 percent.”
It emphasizes that Armenia will have full “authority over border control and customs for trade and transit through the TRIPP.”
